The most desirable way for me to ease into something new, is not to ease in at all. It's to jump in with both feet.
This is exactly what happened during my first week at Weyburn This Week. Labour Day shortened the week, tightening up deadlines. In an unorganized frenzy, I had to first, find the reins, and take hold. It was a whirlwind week, both exhilarating and exhausting.
I am excited to be back at Weyburn This Week. I say "back" because I worked in the editorial department for this newspaper in 2005. Although I enjoyed the eight years I spent at my previous job, journalism has always tugged at me, the invisible elastic attached to me, at some point, had to snap back.
And snap back, it did. I received a picture via text message. The picture was of a fatal accident, involving two vehicles. This was my trigger. I felt something ignite inside me upon seeing that picture. A memory came back to me. In 1994, I was taking Journalism at SAIT, and was on my practicum at the Calgary Sun. The editor caught me as I walked in one morning and asked me to attend a traffic accident on Barlow Trail and 17th Avenue SE. I remember the words he said to me, "If no one is dead, come back." His words echoed in my ear the day I received that picture. I knew where my heart was, and I knew I needed to get back to reporting the news.
Through my years as a reporter in North Battleford, Powell River, BC as well as Weyburn, I have been the story teller of situations that have been ridiculously funny, heart wrenching, heart warming, and controversial.
Being a part of those stories, and being able to tell them to others in written word is exhilarating for me. At the end of the day, I only know what I know, but being able to feed my curiosity of the world is what attracted me to this industry.
I believe one of the most wonderful things about reporting the news, is that no day is the same.
Each day brings something new, everything changes and change is good.
"Remember that wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure. You've got to find the treasure, so that everything you have learned along the way can make sense."
-Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
