Fraser Valley Current Practicum - Week 1

September 20th, 2022

Today was my first meeting with Tyler Olsen at Fraser Valley Current. Tyler was friendly and approachable and had lots of information to share. I asked any question that came to mind, like how the practicum would work, if I could be a part of the layout process meetings to learn and how many stories I would likely manage throughout my practicum. 

In the meeting, I explained how much I loved the story Sumas Lake, the Nooksack River, and the historic roots of a 21st Century disaster that they produced last year due to the flooding in Sumas Prairie. I went into great detail about how much I respect and admire such in-depth, local-forward reporting, especially with how they included stories from Indigenous perspectives and sourced the Stó꞉lō-Coast Salish Historical Atlas. This type of reporting is so important to me, especially as an Indigenous person. 

Following this conversation, I pitched my idea of a story on the yearly salmon spawning season up at Weaver Creek and surrounding areas and how the creek and many creeks in British Columbia are dry due to the drought due to long-term persistent climate change. Tyler explained the process of creating the Sumas prairie story, which inspired me to go forward with the salmon story. Tyler then reached out to me with some contacts to connect with and move forward. 

Another one of my classes this semester is the Climate Disaster Project with Tracy Sherlock and Sean Holeman.  I've found that some of the content that we are learning in this class to be benefical when it comes to working with vulnerable/historically marginalized communities, and on topics such as the climate crisis. We watched a lecture named A deep dive into June-November 2021 weather in B.C. - Is this a new normal? by KPU Geography instructor Joe Koch, which provided valuable research on the changing weather in British Coulmbia. We also read an article called The Empathy Exams by Leslie Jamison, where she examines acts of intimacy through a variety of experiences in the medical world. Some of my favourite quotes that I wrote down to take with me forward as a journalist are: 

"Empathy requires inquiry." 

"Empathy requires knowing you know nothing. Empathy means acknowledging a horizon of context that extends perpetually beyond what you can see." 

"Empathy means realizing no trauma has discreate edges."

"Empathy isn't just something that happens to us—a meteor shower of synapses firing across the brain—it's also a choice we make: to pay attention, to extend ourselves." 

A goal that I have for this practicum moving forward is to expand on my skills in time and project management. As someone who is in a full-time course load, working, volunteering, and more, I have found prioritizing and managing projects to be a struggle. I went out and bought myself a day planner called RoteRunner, which has so many spaces for project and life planning that I suspect it will help me keep things in better order.