Working and living in regional NSW during a global pandemic has been nothing short of a career-defining experience.

The Daily Advertiser covers news for the Riverina and sits only hours from the NSW-Victorian border. Broadly speaking, Wagga Wagga exists an equal distance from Melbourne and Sydney, while the nation’s capital in Canberra is really just a few hours down the road.

Therefore, the restrictions that pass in Victoria, NSW, and ACT have huge ramifications for the transient towns of the Riverina. There may be few hotspots and breakouts of the deadly virus, but there is no end of news.

Here is a snapshot of stories I have covered for the Wagga community as the education reporter in 2020:

• Pandemic extends agonising four-year wait for refugee family’s reunion with lost son
• Families separated across countries feel the pinch of travel restrictions
• Check-in test to be offered to NSW students amid classroom disruptions
• Students feel hamstrung by ‘disjointed’ year as they prepare for HSC
• Graduating students hopeful despite uncertainty over uni, work, travel plans
• Lockdown learning promotes move to permanent homeschooling
• PhD candidates find creative ways to keep up research during pandemic
• Teachers advocate for partial return to classrooms amid virus response
• More than 1000 awaiting rescheduled driving tests in Riverina
• Driver test backlog leaves lives in limbo as new mum loses out on job
• Refugee Week in a pandemic: Finding a home in Wagga after two decades in a camp

More from my time at The Daily Advertiser over here.