Essay Contest - Winners
Winners
(sponsored by the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines through the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation).
She grew up in Thunder Bay and has lived in Hamilton, Guelph, Burlington, and now in Goulais River, where her boyfriend was raised. A weekend visit to his family showed the couple that job possibilities existed for them in the area, and they moved back. Dawn works as the Executive Assistant to the President of Algoma University College, and loves being back in Northern Ontario. "I'm getting a lot of good, unique experience that I probably wouldn't get in Southern Ontario because there are more people there," she said.
Mary Brohart, 30, is originally from South River and now lives in Massey. She is currently building a home and raising two daughters while being an occasional elementary school teacher. Her interest in the essay competition was piqued by an ad in the paper. "I love Northern Ontario and thought it would be easy to write about," she said. "This is a great place to raise a family. I see lots of opportunity for us."
(sponsored by Osprey Media Group)
Taryn Reid, 25, is a pharmacy student at Dalhousie University in Halifax. Originally from Sault Sainte Marie, she plans to return to her hometown next year after graduation. She saw the essay competition as a good opportunity to express her opinion. "There are a lot of good reasons to go back to Northern Ontario," she said.
(sponsored by Costco Wholesale Canada Ltd, Sudbury)
Jennifer Mogg, 27, has returned to her hometown of Sault Sainte Marie after working for HSBC Bank in England. She is very passionate about the outmigration from Northern Ontario, suggesting she's a "die-har" for encouraging people to stick around. "It's frustrating when I hear why people moved away," she said. "It seems everyone knows there are no jobs, and the people that are coming back, it's because they got experience somewhere else. It seems to be the same everywhere."
(sponsored by Costco Wholesale Canada Ltd, Sudbury)
Maxine Cassan, 20, was born and raised in Timmins, and plans to return. He is currently studying Chemical Engineering Technology at Cambrian College in Sudbury. Students on campus were talking about the essay competition, and he decided to get more information and ultimately submit an essay. "I just wanted to see how well I could do at it, to see if I could make it into the finals," he said. Congratulations, Dylan, you made it.
(sponsored by Costco Wholesale Canada Ltd, Sudbury)
Dylan MacDonnell, 20, was born and raised in Timmins, and plans to return. He is currently studying Chemical Engineering Technology at Cambrian College in Sudbury. Students on campus were talking about the essay competition, and he decided to get more information and ultimately submit an essay. "I just wanted to see how well I could do at it, to see if I could make it into the finals," he said. Congratulations, Dylan, you made it.
(sponsored by Costco Wholesale Canada Ltd, Sudbury)
Melina Sschetakis, 18, has lived in Elliot Lake her whole life. When she saw the ad for the essay competition in her local paper, she talked it over with a friend and was encouraged to enter. When she leaves for Toronto's York University in the fall, she will miss the North. "When you grow up in a place like Elliot Lake, you go through phases," she explained. "There's the phase where you want to get away because you feel isolated. But since last year I've started to appreciate it a lot more."
(sponsored by Costco Wholesale Canada Ltd, Sudbury)
Anna Raddon, 30, grew up in Spragge and now lives in Blind River with her husband, Jim, and daughters Grace, Erin and Meghan. The essay competition was promoted at the school where Jim teaches, and he told Anna about it because she looks for jobs online, hoping to lure back friends and family that moved away. Since kindergarten, Anna aspired to be a writer, and she fulfilled her dream by publishing "Reflections on Motherhood" last year; a second book is in the works. She recently opened a print-on-demand business and hopes to help other writers fulfill their dreams.
(sponsored by Costco Wholesale Canada Ltd, Sudbury)
Tiffany Stow, 30, sees motherhood to sons Winter (seven) and Noble (five) as her primary job, but also enjoys her advertising work with CJBB 103.1 FM. Inspiration for the essay competition came when her boyfriend debated leaving New Liskeard for work. She was so inspired, in fact, that she is now writing a play on similar issues. "It's difficult trying to find work in our fields up here," said Stow. She looks forward to the work of increasing economic and cultural initiatives in her area to meet Francophone, Anglophone and aboriginal community needs.
(sponsored by Costco Wholesale Canada Ltd, Sudbury)
Becky Walker, 19, has left her hometown of North Bay for post-secondary education elsewhere. Currently studying English at Trent University, she plans to switch to Brock University for Applied Linguistics in the fall. She was glad her mom told her about the essay competition because she enjoys sharing her point of view through writing.
DiversityCanada Foundation
The DiversityCanada Foundation, a non profit organization that promotes Northern Ontario as a great place to live and work, and the publishers of this website, organized an essay competition called the NorthONJobs.com Essay Contest to hear what youth of the region think about the region. The theme was: "Why should any youth choose to live and work in Northern Ontario."
The contest was open to all youth between the ages of 16 and 30 in the geographic region covered by Ontario Ministry of Northern Development and Mines (ie from Nipissing and Parry Sound to Kenora).
The Winners
Winning Essay
When I left Northern Ontario at age 17, I wanted the big city. I wanted a high-profile job in Toronto, I wanted to drive on the 401 everyday, and I wanted my life to be fast-paced and exciting.
Silent breeze echoing around my feet as squint and snowshoe across the field with our 11 month old daughter on my back and three year old by my side. "Look, mommy, Swiper tracks!"
Whenever I meet someone new here in Peterborough, and they ask me where I'm from, I reply that I'm from North Bay. You can see them do a double take. The most common responses are "wow.that's really far away!" or "What's it like up there?"