Hello everybody! First things first, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Mike Pickford, the latest addition to the newsroom at the Bonnyville Nouvelle.
Upon completion of my studies in Ontario last summer, I set my sights on finding a job in the media industry. It has been a long, frustrating, and at times disheartening search, but I feel I've found the perfect opportunity to further enhance my skills here in Bonnyville with the Nouvelle.
So I guess this is the time when I tell you all a bit about myself eh?
I've been a resident of Canada now for six years, having made the ‘short' trip to Ontario from England in the summer of 2007.
After finishing high school in the UK, I was at a crossroads in my life, not exactly sure what I wanted to do with myself. There was of course the option of moving on to college, but at the slender age of 16 that wasn't a path I was quite sure I was ready to take. I could have walked into a full-time job, but lets be serious, what teenager is going to walk that route of their own free will?
My third and final option was quite simply to run away, and with very little thought, that's what I did, following my grandparents to The Great White North.
Since then I've gone on to obtain my second high-school diploma, stumble my way through a gap year and work my rear end off so that I can now call myself a professional journalist.
It's really been quite the journey, a journey I was unsure I would ever be able to beat. That was until I thought it would be a good idea to drive out to Bonnyville from my previous home in Lindsay, Ontario.
The trip was some 3,600 kilometres in distance and took four days to get through, as opposed to the two days I was convinced it was going to take. To say I'm sick to the stomach of the sight of the inside of my car is an understatement.
There is much more that I could go into, but I think it's best that I save a few trees and keep it short.
If any of you happen to hear a funny voice emanating from the corner of a store in town, don't hesitate to introduce yourself; I want to meet as many people as possible – let me know what Bonnyville is all about.
