Zoey Duncan
“Wow, how’d you end up all the way out here?”
It’s the line I’ve been asked a dozen times since arriving in Fort Frances in late April to be the summer reporter at the Times.
And it’s a valid question, I think, which tends to follow my announcing I came from Calgary.
The more common tales of employment-seeking in Canada see people flocking west, or at least moving from a smaller centre to a larger one. But I’ve come 1,770 km east to a town I knew nothing about six months ago because, for me, it’s a little land of opportunity.
While I love Calgary, my summer in Fort Frances is giving me more than just a journalism internship to fill my Bachelor of Communication requirements.
I’m learning to build a network from scratch and discovering the importance of relationships in a small community. I have a chance to enjoy my own company while also chatting with people who have spent decades without the constant stimulation of being in the shadow of one million others.
On the job, I find myself driving between events and meeting lots of new people every day in a deceptively busy town.
I’ve quickly fallen in love with the climate here that allows flowers to bloom before the summer solstice, and the absence of rush hour.
Journalism is a writing-based craft, yes, but it’s also about discovery, and already just one month into my summer-long stay here, my days are full of discovery.
I got into journalism because it seemed like the best, or at least most practical, way to turn my love of writing into a career.
Journalism is a tough go for any remotely shy person: it’s a career where much of your success is based on your ability to ask great questions of near-strangers and coax anecdotes from sources over the phone.
So my early years in the journalism program at Mount Royal University featured more than a few battles between me and my fear of picking up a phone, but that also was when I developed a ravenous appetite for news.
Since then, I’ve written for half-a-dozen publications, covering stories from community gardening to Calgary’s latest municipal election to the economics of starting a wine business in the midst of a recession.
I’ve fallen in love with many of my stories, including an in-depth look into the evolution of Calgary’s historic Inglewood neighbourhood, an extensive profile of a local comedian, and the opportunity to write campus-focused editorials as the publishing editor of Mount Royal’s campus newspaper, “The Reflector.”
Outside the newsroom, I love cooking vegetarian food and experimenting with bread baking. I’m a big fan of using social media, particularly Twitter and blogging.
In Calgary, I co-facilitated a women’s writing group with my mom that teaches the skills of stand-up comedy, and I relish any chance to add a bit of humour to a story I’m working on.
Following my internship here, which culminates in August, I’ll be returning west to work towards my goal of reporting for a daily newspaper.
And I expect I’ll bring with me at least one thing I didn’t pack for the trip out here: a boatload of experience.
