An even bigger city

Toronto makes Halifax seem like a small town

I’m writing this column from my desk at the Snowboard Canada office, which is not something I ever thought I would be saying.

I’m wrapping up week one at my journalism internship and it has been great so far. I’m learning a lot about magazine production and printing which has been really neat to see from the inside. It has also been great seeing all of the amazing things my friends are doing at their internships across Canada and the world.

Finishing off our journalism degrees with a month-long internship is a great way to really test the waters and see if this is the field for us. Some of my classmates are shadowing CBC giants and diving head first into the world of hard news, while others are writing front-page news stories for local papers and even photographing Justin Trudeau! It’s such a rewarding experience reading an amazing story only to look at the byline and see the name of one of your classmates. I’m so proud of our class and excited to see what everyone will accomplish. Journalism is a unique career path in that way; in a couple of years I could flip on the evening news and see my best friend staring back at me!

As for me, I’m soaking in as much knowledge as I can from Canada’s No. 1 actions sports publication. I’ve already gotten to meet one of my favourite skateboarders, and pitched stories for future editions about our own hometown heroes (shout-out to Ollie Around and Undercurrent).

Adjusting to life in the city has been interesting. I thought Halifax was too big for me, but Toronto makes Halifax seem like a small town. I’m slowly getting used to it though, and I haven’t gotten on the wrong train yet (knock on wood). Waking up every morning and looking at the Rogers Centre and CN Tower outside my window is definitely surreal and I’m trying to take in as much of the city as I can during my time here.

I’m lucky to be staying with two of my cousins, which has been a dream. I can’t imagine being isolated in such a big city with no one familiar to fall back on at the end of the day.

I’m incredibly thankful for this experience in Toronto, but truth be told — I’d take Dominion beach and small town living over the city any day.