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Taking the long way around

Why don't you take the long way? Anyone who's heard this question recognizes its sarcasm. After 27 years of being asked this, I still don't have an answer. But I do have a question: why not? I like challenges, I always have.

Why don't you take the long way? Anyone who's heard this question recognizes its sarcasm. After 27 years of being asked this, I still don't have an answer. But I do have a question: why not?

I like challenges, I always have. At a young age, I made the decision to leave home in pursuit of a hockey career. The Althol Murray College of Notre Dame (boarding school) in Saskatchewan was home to the top women's hockey team in Canada, and I was determined to crack the line-up. My bags were packed, and five days after my 14th birthday, I landed in Saskatchewan. I breathed in. My lungs were marked by the bitter cold prairie winds as my psyche inhaled the disappointment of failure and the exhilaration of success. I was hooked. I went on to win the first university women's hockey championship with Concordia Univer-sity and competed in pre-Olympic games against the United States before an injury ended my career. I left hockey behind, but carried the lessons with me. When I graduated from college, I had a BA in theology and an overwhelming desire to be a journalist. Problem? No - just a challenge. A great deal of my journalistic experience has come in a somewhat unconventional manner. After applying to the Columbia school of Journalism in New York City I moved there to assist a former New York Times journalist with his latest book. I didn't end up at Columbia, but I did get a jolt of experience. Everything I absorbed working with a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist remains priceless. In the summer of 2005 I had the opportunity to take a grad class at Harvard where I spent the summer researching and writing a paper on the specifics of a report by the Republican Policy Committee attacking the International Red Cross, in which I defended the Red Cross. As part of the research, I interviewed Michael Ignatieff while he was still at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy.

After returning from Boston I started to focus on freelance writing in Vancouver. During this time I was able to do some writing on Afghanistan. My interest in world events and led to a story on the role of women in Afghanistan and Canada's mission there. I hope to launch myself into conflict zones and wartorn countries someday. The action is appealing, people's stories are compelling and the truth is essential. There is so much to see. It has not been a direct route to Coast Reporter's newsroom, but I found the way. I'm excited to be reporting on the Sunshine Coast and most happy to working with the people at Coast Reporter. I have to agree with the Dixie Chicks, sometimes"Taking the Long Way Around" is best