There’s a new voice coming to these pages, and that voice happens to be mine!
Hi there, I’m Lauryn Heintz, and I’m the new summer student for the Airdrie City View and Rocky View Weekly. I’m so excited to dig into this job and learn everything there is to know about the city of Airdrie and the diverse communities that make up Rocky View County.
Now that I’ve said hello, maybe it’s time for you to get to know a little bit about me. I was born and raised in east-central Alberta, in a small farming and oil town called Provost, with a population of about 2,000 people. I went to the same school from kindergarten to Grade 12, so my class of 30-or-so students knew pretty much everything about each other.
There was never really much going on growing up in Provost. As kids, my sister and I practically lived at the outdoor pool in the summer. Winter highlights included walking down the block to go watch whatever hockey game was going on and have a delicious rink burger. I dabbled in nearly every sport to keep busy and fit, but my lack of coordination and clumsiness didn’t do me much good in that regard.
But I always found solace in academics. Whether it was reading Of Mice and Men in English or learning about the Cold War in social studies, I loved the opportunity to gain knowledge. I wish I could have ignited the same passion for math and science, but it never happened for me. I was – and still am – always intrigued by what was going on around me.
This fascination is what really led me to journalism. Once I realized I didn’t have to do physics or calculus everyday if I didn’t want to, I knew exactly what I wanted to be doing. That's how I ended up enrolling in Mount Royal University's journalism program and moving to Calgary.
Journalism is the perfect mix for me. It provides a cocktail of human interest, current events, social justice and a routine spliced with a daily dose of the beauty of words. Journalism provides me the ability and responsibility to inform, educate, inspire and bring awareness to events and issues occurring in our communities. This has always been important but has become even more so in the last few years.
I am so excited to join this community for the next few months and get to know the people, places, businesses and organizations that make it tick. Humans crave connection and have compassion to give to those that belong to our community and those who are separated by distance, but community, nonetheless.
I am very much looking forward to spending the summer with you all, no matter which community you call home. I hope you enjoy reading my words as much as I love writing them down. Who knows – by the end of this, we could be the best of friends.
