In August 2021, Trisha Fraker received news that would change her life. After feeling a lump in her breast, Fraker immediately went to the doctor. “I was laying down and my son was laying on my chest area, watching a movie with me and I felt a lump...
Leadership will pull you in a thousand different directions. It’s not like when you become a director or a vice president or a chief something that you suddenly have creative domain over everything you are responsible for. It doesn’t work that...
As a Dutch native, Paulina Huffman never pictured herself as a member of the United States military. Though her interest in serving began while she was in high school, she assumed her citizenship status would bar her ability to join. A conversation...
Leaders need to constantly listen. That’s kind of funny when you think about it, too. A lot of people raise to leadership by stepping out in front, by volunteering, by showcasing they are the right person to do something – very few find a...
Jim Atkinson grew up in a small town near Valparaiso and graduated from Boone Grove High School. He has a wife of 52 years, six children, and eight grandchildren. “I grew up on a small farm just south of Valparaiso where I milked three or four cows...
The features section on Portage.Life is one of the most popular, giving you insight into some of the most incredible happenings in the area, including #1StudentNWI articles, Life in the Spotlights, Survivor Series, Leadership Life, City in the...
The three words no one ever wants to hear – you have cancer. For Heather Almager, being 29 at the time, hearing those words left her stunned. Almager’s battle against breast cancer came out of left field. She and her husband had been trying to...
The last year and a half has been challenging at times for everyone, but especially so for Deborah Frahm. When Frahm learned that she tested positive for COVID-19, she was able to take a few weeks off from her job that she had just started...
Terry Dernik went into the army with the goal of becoming a helicopter pilot. Instead, he took on the title of a scout dog handler in the Vietnam War, a position he at first knew very little about but quickly saw to wear the title with a badge of...
In 2019, Rick Gosser received a diagnosis that changed his entire perspective on life. Gosser decided to visit the doctor that year when he noticed a mark that just wouldn’t heal. “I had a sore on my left shoulder that would just not heal...
