Hello Citizen readers,
No matter how I word this column it keeps sounding like a dating ad, so you’ve been warned.
Anyway, at the risk of sounding like a cliché, I can’t tell you how excited I am to start working for the Thompson Citizen. Not only is it a privilege to work for a publication that’s basically been around since this city’s inception, but moving to the “Hub of the North” affords me the opportunity to take what I’ve learned in my line of work and apply it to a completely new environment.
But I won’t lie; the last couple weeks have been a little overwhelming. As of this publication I’ve only been living in Thompson for about a month after spending eight years kicking around Ottawa. So it’ll take a little bit more time for me to adjust.
Of course, I wasn’t born in the nation’s capital. I simply travelled there to attend school, the University of Ottawa to be exact. Since I ended up majoring in English I guess my parents expected me to choose teaching as a career. Instead, in my first recorded act as youthful rebellion, I decided to pursue journalism instead.
This ambition took root at the university’s English language newspaper, the Fulcrum, where I went from being a volunteer to the managing editor in the space of three years. And for those of you wondering: student politics is no joke. After witnessing my fair share of backstabbing and open corruption from the local student union I feel like I’m ready to cover any city council in the country.
But my reporting skills were really put to the test last summer when I interned at Fort McMurray Today, an internship that began during the infamous wildfire.
I won’t go into detail about this time, since I feel I would be taking attention away from the residents who lost their homes and are still reeling from the disaster. All I’ll say is that this experience really hammered home how important local reporting is to northern prairie communities, especially ones that are so geographically isolated.
To make a long story short, I felt like Thompson would be a great way to explore this relationship, which is why I’m your new general assignment reporter.
Plus, what better way to get to know a city than by reporting its news?
So if you ever spot me waltzing around town, feel free to say “hi.” I’m usually wearing glasses and a grey cabbie hat.
And to make the dating profile comparison complete, I enjoy hanging out in libraries, the colour blue, and going on angry jogs.
See you around.
