OPINION

SNN will take me to “infinity and beyond”
By: Sarah K., SNN Opinions Editor, Ascension Collegiate, Bay Roberts, NF

SNN has taken me far beyond the reaches of my little town of Bay Roberts, Newfoundland. As an SNN reporter I have had the opportunity to travel to Ottawa, Stephenville, Clarenville and Grand-Falls Windsor, as well as numerous trips to St. John’s and other communities in my area.

SNN stands for SchoolNet News Network. We are based in St. John’s and are composed of students from all across Canada, who come together monthly, through writing, to share ideas and adventures with each other.

I have personally been involved with SNN since 1997, the summer after I finished Grade 6. Since then, I have written articles, produced radio and even TV pieces, as well as gained the valuable work experience necessary to succeed in today’s demanding job market. I have had the opportunity to work with some amazing journalism “greats”, such as Ray McLoud from Halifax. I have worked closely with SNN Coordinators Beth Ryan and Carmelita Joy-Bolger, both from St. John’s. I have also had the possibility to work with other young people, both from this province, and also from across Canada.

For the past 5 summers, I have attended, and covered STEM~Net’s Hook, Line and Net conference as an SNN reporter. I have made lasting friendships with teens from Roncalli Central High School in Port Saunders, on the Northern Peninsula. We meet every year at the HLN conferences and use SNN as a way to communicate with each other, and indeed, the rest of the country, what is going on in “our neck of the woods”, what matters to us, our opinions and beliefs, the things that you just don’t find in an email, things that are either too personal, or not personal enough to only share with one person.

In October of 1999, I went to Ottawa, our nation’s capital, to participate in a three day, youth Journalism workshop along with other teens from across our country. I made friends with people from Manitoba, Nova Scotia, British Columbia, even Quebec through this workshop. We attended “mini-courses” at Carleton University in Ottawa on such topics as “the basics of interviewing” and how to make a really good radio piece. I brought back my newfound knowledge and started working as a freelance reporter with CBC Radio St. John’s as a “New Voice”, a youth reporter.

I have used SNN as a way to vent my frustrations mostly. I am a very opinionated person, and I don’t mind showing that to people. I guess that’s one of the reasons they appointed me Opinions Editor, and I have been for the past two years running. Through this post, I have expressed my sentiments/ concerns about everything from Spice Girls to abortion, from Britney Spears to Pokémon, and just about everything in between.