The Converged Citizen - Feb. 1, 2018

www.themediaplex.com

*February 1, 2018

The Power Of The Future

Inside

2 News

4 Health & Lifestyle

Photo by Josie Richards A crowd calls for equality as part of the Windsor Women’s March at City Hall square on Jan. 20.

5 Entertainment

8 Sports Photo by Matt Flood

Index

Contact Us

News.................................................................2

Email

Health & Lifestyle............................................4

Phone

Arts & Entertainment........................................5 Sports................................................................8

Weather Thursday, February 1, 2018

media.converged@themediaplex.com (519) 972-2727 Ext. 4963 Twitter @The_MediaPlex

High: 3°C Low: -12°C Weather provided by The Weather Network

Quote of the Day Remember, today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday -Dale Carnegie

2

C

news

FEBRUARY 1, 2018

ONVERGED CITIZEN

Glengarry Lighthouse guiding others Amos Johnson Converged Citizen Staff A lighthouse warns ships at sea and guides them, often during a storm or in a time of darkness.

The Glengarry Lighthouse, located off the courtyard at Wheelton Manor on 333 Glengarry Ave. is similar, guiding others away from the darkness and into the light.

The figurative lighthouse acts as a safe place for people who grew up without any guidance or have not been taught basic life skills. In the beginning, the lighthouse would serve coffee and cookies, later going on to supply breakfast and lunch, as well as dinners on Wednesdays at Chateau Mason, with help from the city.

The City of Windsor has also provided a pantry for the lighthouse, and extra storage for sports equipment, like volleyball nets and tennis gear.

Hughie Carpenter, 52, is a peer support worker for the lighthouse and an ex-con who has seen his share of biker gangs, drugs and prostitution.

He lives on the property and is a shining example in the community.

“My story and my testimony to them is an encouragement

that they can do it. There’s a way out,” said Carpenter.“Together as a partner, as a friend, as a brother, as a father, whatever you see me as, I’ll stand beside you and we’ll get through this together.”

There are situations where Carpenter is forced to kick someone out of the house, such as drug dealers or other people creating a disturbance, but he does this in a calm manner.

“I don’t have to yell or scream or rant and rave. I don’t have to call them names.

They don’t want the confrontation; mention the police once and they’ll run. What you do in your own home is up to you, what you bring into the hallways is my problem,” said Carpenter.“There’s people you have to call the police on, on a regular basis. I’ve chased people in and out of the building. I’ve ran around the Glengarry complex with the police department trying to find one guy.”

The lighthouse can support people who are ready to move towards a positive change in their lives, whether they need help with filing their taxes or finding employment.

Carpenter helps his community by helping them through

Photo by Amos Johnson Hughie Carpenter outside of the Glengarry Lighthouse unit in the courtyard at Wheelton Manor on 333 Glengarry Ave. their fears; everything necessary to leading them down a better path.

“When your character’s being insulted, how do you respond to that? You can’t respond in hate. You can’t respond in anger, you’ve just got to continue to smile [and] let them wear it. So they see a light there, because if I was angry and hateful because he said that [something hateful], that’s not light…that’s dark, just like them,” said Carpenter.“We love them anyway. We love those who come against us and we see it…we

see the regret in their eyes for the things they’ve said.”

Carpenter started his path to recovery through another community house project of the Downtown Windsor Community Collaborative, where they took in guests consisting of homeless people, ex-cons, recovering addicts and anyone else in need of a safe place.

After living in the house for a year, Carpenter discovered Christianity and continued his path towards a positive and sober life.

“He transitioned from an

instability like near-homelessness; living just from place to place. Caught the bug for what the Collaborative is doing and was willing to move in and do peer support work and living inside Glengarry,” said Bob Cameron, executive director for the dwcc.

“People who have gotten involved with the light house, gotten involved with community efforts that are out there [and] have found a better quality of life that’s a lot more filling than being with the dope,” said Carpenter.

Sickle Cell Awareness Day Torcia Velthuizen Converged Citizen Staff Social media is inundated with posts for national days such as boyfriend day or national puppy day, but lost among the innocuous holidays is a day meant to bring awareness to a serious health issue.

On June 19 Canada will observe Sickle Cell Awareness Day. Sickle cell anemia is a blood disorder caused by an abnormality in the protein that carries oxygen in the red blood cells. These proteins, known as hemoglobin, weaken the red blood cell and cause the blood

cell to burst.

The acknowledgement of the need for awareness came through the passing of Bill S211, An Act Respecting National Sickle Cell Awareness Day. “Most of these people are experiencing lifelong debilitating pain. Some people affected by sickle cell anemia are confined to their homes, requiring around-the-clock care,” said Darren Fisher, a Member of Parliament from Dartmouth. “Numerous blood transfusions are not uncommon for someone with this disease.”

Fisher said approximately 5000 Canadians and their fam-

ilies are affected by sickle cell and the number is increasing.

The Sickle Cell Disease Association of Canada estimates one in every 2500 Canadians will be born with this disease.

Marisa Gatfield, territory manager for Blood Service Canada said she was surprised with the decrease in people who decided to donate blood this December.

“Typically we have people give the gift of life during the holiday season, but there hasn’t been an uptick in donations [last month],” said Gatfield.

Gatfield said Blood Services needs 375 donors

every week to meet their collection targets.There are 36 permanent collection sites across Canada and Windsor is home to one of them. They are open six days a week and potential donors can find out more details about eligibility on the Blood Services Canada website. Blood donations areonly part of the picture for those with sickle cell disease.

“This disease primarily affects those with diverse ethnic backgrounds — African, Caribbean, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, South American, and South Asian.

In Canada, sickle cell disproportionately affects members of the African Canadian com-

munity,” said Fisher.

Fisher said he believes one reason sickle-cell might lack awareness is because of discrimination.

“Lack of awareness results in individuals being underserved by the medical community,” said Fisher.

The bill has not been given the official holiday status, so people will not be expecting any days off work. This will help pave the way to bring awareness to the disease and help educate Canadians on what the disease is and how they can help.A day dedicated to awareness might help.Bill S-211, was given royal assent on Dec. 12.

3

C

news

February 1, 2018

ONVERGED CITIZEN

Steps away from sexual assault Ryan Jones Vanessa Cuevas Christina Chibani Converged Citizen Staff With the TimesUp and #Metoo movements gaining traction, people are feeling more confident sharing their stories of sexual assault.

The criminal code defines sexual assault “as an indictable offence and is liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than 10 years or, if the complainant is under the age of 16 years, to imprisonment for a term of not more than 14 years and to a minimum punishment of imprisonment for a term of one year.”

Moving to End Sexual Assault (MESA), is a program of Mental Health Partners that helps sexual assault victims.

According to MESA there are three main types of sexual assault: blitz, contact and home invasion. Blitz is when someone assaults another person without having previous interaction.

Contact is when a person gains another person’s trust and will then assault them.

Home invasion is when a stranger breaks into someone’s house to commit assault.In 2014, Statistics Canada released results on self-reported sexual assault. According to the General Social Survey on Canadian’s Safety (Victimization), there were a total of 22 sexual assault incidents for every 1000 Canadians aged 15 and older.

Statistics Canada stated people who are most commonly targeted by sexual assault are “women, young, Aboriginal, single, homosexual or bisexual and those who had poorer mental health.”

The City of Windsor offers a variety of support groups and programs for people affected by sexual assault.Windsor Police Services have taken steps forward in combating the issue of sexual assault in the city.Sergeant Steve Betteridge,

public information officer with Windsor Police Services said sexual assault is taken seriously by the WPS. He said there is a new method of reporting that has recently been implemented for sexual assault victims.

“Most recently, we have something on our website now where someone can report sexual assault anonymously. It starts the first step forward because a lot of times victims can be concerned about coming forward. Now they can reach out and we can set up an investigation,” said Betteridge.

WPS publishes a Yearly Time Clock which outlines the city’s crime statistics.

According to the Time Clock there were a total of 164 sexual assault cases in Windsor for 2016. Betteridge said even minor cases are taken into consideration.

“There’s no reason to be afraid. Professional help is available,” said Betteridge.

Aside from the WPS, the Sexual Assault centre in Windsor has services available for victims. The centre operates a 24-hour crisis line and provides specialized counselling for victims and those who support them, group counselling and public services.

Executive director of the Crisis Centre, Lydia Fiorini, said the centre sees about 1000 cases annually. People are coming into the Crisis Centre seeking help.

“We would do any work specific to what is happening in their lives,” said Fiorini.

The Crisis Centre offers programs for young children to help them understand what steps to take if they were to become a victim of sexual assault in the future.

The Crisis Centre also works alongside Windsor Police to help with responding to victims and to see which methods are working and which are not.Victims

seeking help through the Crisis Centre have the opportunity to receive specialized counselling with a social worker. The Crisis Centre is working towards helping people understand the impact of sexual victimization.

“The very first thing you want to do is normalize their reactions and assist them with whatever is happening in terms of coping,” said Fiorini.

Fiorini said victims experience PTSD, an anxiety disorder that can develop after experiencing a traumatic event. The social workers will help victims understand their PTSD is normal, given what they have experienced and help manage their symptoms.

Most of what social workers hear from the victims are the questions “What is it that I did?” or “What did I do that contributed to this happening to me?”

Fiorini said the victims have also said they are hypervillgent, always afraid and are unable to focus or concentrate.

“The reality is that they [the victims] did not do anything it was the offender who chose to abuse them,” said Fiorini.

Despite encouragement from support groups and police, people still find it difficult to come forward with their sexual assault experience. According to the report, there are many reasons why assault goes unreported.

These reasons include fear of reprisal, personal issues or they feel it is not important enough to report. Some believe the police will not do anything to help, some do not want the offender to get in trouble with the law, there may not enough proof or people do not know how to report their assault.

Sexual assault does not only occur on the streets and in homes. According to Canadian Federation of StudentsOntario, CFS, one in five women will be affected by sexual assault in their post-

secondary education. CFS also states that as of November.

2014, only nine out of 102 Canadian post-secondary institutions have sexual assault policies and many sexual assault cases on campus happen within the first eight weeks of the school year.

The University of Windsor is not one of the nine.Dusty Johnstone, a sexual misconduct response & prevention officer at the University of Windsor, said sexual assault is any form of unwanted sexual contact that occurs when someone does not have the capacity to give voluntary consent. This can be because of force, threat or because they are too intoxicated.Johnstone provides support to anyone on campus who has experienced sexual misconduct recently.

By emotional support, connecting them with other resources and helping them file a complaint either to the university or police.

“In the fall semester I saw approximately 30 individuals, the majority of whom were women,” said Johnstone.

He also said people who experience sexual assault have experienced it more than once.

“I see people with a wide range of experience, and it isn't always physical. I also see people who have experienced verbal sexual harassment or other forms of non-physical sexual misconduct,” said Johnstone.

The University of Windsor has two educational programs that target sexual violence on campus. The first is the Bystander Initiative which focuses on changing the attitudes and behaviours that encourage sexual assaults to occur.

Johnstone said this program, which is delivered as a threehour workshop, teaches students how to recognize sexual violence and step in and intervene in situations that could lead to violence.

The second program is

called Flip the Script which looks at rape resistance for young women on and off campus. The program teaches women to overcome the emotional barriers that prevent them from fighting back and strategies for fighting back.

“Our long term goal on campus is to change the culture and make sexual violence socially unacceptable. We believe that everyone has a role in changing the culture and being an active bystander,” said Johnstone.

Dr. Charlene Y. Senn is a professor in the applied social psychology graduate program within the Department of Psychology at the university.

Senn said she centres her research around male violence against women with a deeper focus on sexual violence and campus interventions.

For over 10 years, Senn has developed and evaluated a sexual assault resistance education program for women in their first year of university.

She said the program was demonstrated recently in a CIHR-funded randomized controlled trial. The result showed rape was reduced by almost 50 per cent in women who took the intervention.

Senn is also the co-founder of and researcher for the UWindsor Bystander Initiative program.

“Bystander programs are effective in increasing students confidence that they could intervene if they saw a situation requiring it and that it would make a difference, decreasing the barriers to taking action that they might have previously experienced, and increasing their bystander behaviour,” said Senn.

Senn is currently conducting a 10-year study to identify changes on campus, expecting the study to be completed by 2020. If you or someone you know is a victim of sexual assault there are many programs to help, especially in the city of Windsor.

CONVERGED CITIZEN FEBRUARY 1, 2018

Sweet addiction

4

Health roundup

By Torcia Velthuizen

Alyssa Leonard Converged Citizen Staff It’s the twitch.

The calling, the craving.

It begs you for more.

Your body wants it.

Needs it. Now. It has become instinct to reach for it.

The taste so gratifying.

Thirst-quenching, hungersatisfying — the blissful moment when the need has finally been met.

It can be terrifying to learn that something capable of making a person feel this way is so readily available.

Adults, the elderly, children — anyone can feel this way after minimal exposure.And it is everywhere.

Refined sugar is in nearly everything we consume and even though more dangers are being brought into the spotlight, many people still refuse to heed the warnings.

About six years ago Jeff Bunde started cutting out refined sugar from his diet after his doctor said he was at risk for diabetes.

He found himself bingeconsuming sugary foods many times throughout the first five years.

He said the cravings would become so strong he would find himself beginning to sweat and trying to justify to himself having a sugary food or drink.

“I felt cravings for sugary foods constantly,” said Bunde. “[The cravings] never completely disappear.”

It was not until his sixth year when he decided to really focus on the effort after having a physical medical exam for his life insurance policy.

Bunde said he was very unhappy with his weight result and turned to exercise to lose weight and resist his crav-

Photo by Alyssa Leonard Daily temptations. ings.

In the past year, Bunde said he has noticed he has more energy than before, overall better health and has dropped half of his previous weight from before he started.

Consuming excessive amounts of added sugar can lead to serious health problems, such as hypoglycemia, obesity, diabetes, tooth decay and vitamin and mineral depletion.According to Meghan Scott, a registered dietitian for over 10 years, refined sugar dependence is a psychological addiction.

“Sugar tastes good and people are drawn to things that make them happy, so that’s how a psychological addiction develops,” said Scott. “You eat sugar, it makes you happy, so the next time you’re sad, you eat sugar knowing it’ll make you happy. Over time, a dependence develops.”

Scott said many people experience relapses when cutting refined sugar from the diet because eating sweets is habit based and changing habits can be very challenging.

There are many daily temptations one must resist.Health Canada does not have specific

recommendations for how much sugar Canadians should consume daily.

The World Health Organization, however, recommends adults and children reduce their daily intake of added sugars to roughly 25 grams, or 6 teaspoons.

To give a little perspective, a small Coke from McDonald's has 39 grams of sugar.

Scott said to try and stick with the healthy sugars in fruits, vegetables and grains, as our bodies do need some sugars (carbohydrates) to survive.

“It might not be necessary to cut refined sugar out completely. You still need to enjoy your food and your life.” said Scott. “If you know you won’t be able to resist it, don’t have it in your house.”

Scott also said to be kind to yourself and “just keep trying,” because every day is a new day and even a little progress is better than no progress at all.

“Remember that there is no one size fits all solution to healthy eating — do what works for you,” said Scott.

Best foods to eat during cold and flu season

5- Fennel helps release chest congestion, so if you have a bit of a cough try steeping it in hot water or adding it to a variety of dishes

There are a few ways you can avoid the sniffles, keep your body healthy and keep the germs at bay. Here is a list of the best foods to eat during the cold and flu season.

6- Garlic goes in everything.

It is delicious and it contains allicin that helps release antioxidants. No better time of year to go heavy on the garlic, regardless of your family’s pleas.

1- Dark leafy greens like kale reduce congestion and are full of vitamins A and K. 2- Citrus fruit. Citrus is full of vitamin C that helps keep your immune system strong. You can eat the fruit on its own or put it in a cup of hot water or tea.

3- Dark chocolate. Cocoa contains polyphenols and zinc that, like citrus, helps maintain a healthy immune system. No need to feel guilty when indulging in this treat, just have a small amount and stick to chocolate with 70 per cent cocoa or higher.

4- Hot toddies. The alcohol in this drink will help expand the blood vessels for a better flow of immune cells, the vitamin C in the lemon juice helps these immune cells and the honey soothes the throat.

Alcohol can suppress your immune system in high doses, so stick to one shot or less.

Sesame recall Health Canada has reported a recall of sesame seeds sold in Ontario by the brand ARZ Fine Foods and a no name brand that is sold in bulk. The company alerted the Canadian Food Inspection Agency due to a possible salmonella contamination.

Recalled products should be thrown out or returned to the store where it was purchased .

Deadly influenza The flu has been especially prevalent this season, resulting in the first confirmed death in Windsor earlier this month. According to Health Canada, there have been 82 deaths nationally and over 300 pediatric hospitalizations.

CONVERGED CITIZEN FEBRUARY 1, 2018

Life after theatre Amos Johnson Justin Crouch Converged Citizen Staff

Entertainment Roundup

By Cade Ryan

The theatre industry can be very competitive and many students face challenges finding work in the industry after graduation. For some, this means they may have to leave their theatre dream behind. “[Doing theatre] helped me most with just being a more social person and opening up to people,” said Michael Scussolin, 27, a graduate of dramatic arts from the University of Windsor.

“In the theatre profession you kind of have to be able to open up to new things and new ideas and being able to let yourself be out there a little bit more.”

Scussolin graduated with a bachelor’s degree in dramatic arts. He currently works at Chrysler and does not see himself going back to theatre.

“I had always been interested in theatre because that was what I was really good at in high school. So, when it came time to pick what I wanted to do for my schooling at the university, I decided to go into theatre,” said Scussolin.

“Leading into that (a career) was like ‘okay, if anything, I can use this as a teachable skill to go to teachers college afterwards.’”

Scussolin moved to China for 14 months to teach English in a city called Zushi. While he does not see himself going back to theatre for a career, Scussolin said teaching theatre is always a possibility.

The craft of acting and drama can be used as an education tool to help students better themselves, according to Meaghen Quinn who teaches several classes using this

Music

Photo by Knelsen Photo Joey McDonough and Katie Manuel perform in St. Clair College’s The Pajama Game at the Chrysler Theatre. method at the University of Windsor.

“What people often miss is they think that drama is just about the stage, but we also use it as a learning tool,” said Quinn.

“If you’re nervous speaking in front of people, you have to remember that the actor has weeks of rehearsal and that’s why they can do it. Sometimes people think it’s something you’re born with. You can learn the technique of acting.”

Not only does Quinn teach drama to theatre students, she has also introduced drama and acting into the lives of business students as a way to build their confidence both physically and vocally. Her style of teaching works through bringing dramatic elements to a topic, creating a memorable experience for the students.

Joey McDonough, 21, is a graduate of the music theatre performance program at St. Clair College and has been working in shows non-stop since he graduated in April 2017.

“I’m specifically a theatre actor. Film is definitely something I am exploring, essentially it is the same thing in film but for me it is just a different level of intensity,” said McDonough.

“I’m very big with all of my actions and my intentions of movement but for film everything is brought down. It’s two different styles [of acting] but it’s all the same thing.”

McDonough started in theatre when he was eight years old, later performing in high school and eventually joining the St. Clair College program.

McDonough recommends the college program to anyone pursuing acting in Windsor and said he would not be as successful as he is today without it.

“I’ve been extremely happy with who I am and I haven’t looked back at all,” said McDonough.

Theatre is a vast occupation with many career choices, making it flexible for graduates fresh out of their chosen acting program.

The Atlanta rap trio, Migos, released their highly anticipated second studio album called Culture ll, on Friday, Jan. 26. The album has 24 tracks featuring popular artists such as 21 Savage, Drake, Travis Scott, Big Sean, Ty Dolla $ign, Nicki Minaj, Cardi B, Post Malone and 2 Chainz. The song, Walk It Talk It, is already sixth on the US hip-hop charts.

Justin Timberlake’s song, Say Something (feat. Chris Stapleton), is currently number one on the US pop charts only one day after its release. The top 10 also includes two other songs by Justin Timberlake, and Ed Sheeran’s song, Perfect, in the number two spot.

Simply Queen The Live Tribute is coming to the Caboto Club Feb. 2. Advance online tickets will be $20 and tickets at the door will be $30.

All of the proceeds will be donated to the Amherstburg Food Mission.

Movies Canada’s coast-to-coast film festival, the Flashback Film Fest, is coming to Silver City Cinemas in Windsor on Feb. 2 until Feb. 8 and they will be playing classic 80’s films such as Back to the Future, The Big Lebowski, A View to Kill, Gremlins and more.

The finale of the Maze Runner saga, the Maze Runner Death Cure came to theatres Jan. 26. This sci-fi thriller directed by Wes Ball is the eighth most talked about movie of 2018 and has been ranked at number 39 for best movie of the year so far according to www.metacritic.com.

5

6

arts & entertainment

C

FEBRUARY 1, 2018

ONVERGED CITIZEN

One for the books Ryan Jones Converged Citizen Staff Picture a little girl, dirty blonde hair flooding over her shoulders, sitting at the kitchen table with her mom, a Goosebumps book joining the party, waiting to be read. The grade school she attends, St. Gabrielle’s in Windsor, thought it would be suitable for a Grade 3 student to read R. L. Stine’s books, but one student thinks differently. The youngest of three girls, she is now planted in a chair beside her mom asking her to read the book because she despises it - it scares her. She does not mind it though when her mom reads Harry Potter.

Meet Hailey LeBlanc. She is now 22 years old, born and raised in Windsor, still living in her childhood home. This past April she graduated from the University of Windsor with an English degree and said she is unsure what she would like to do next. She currently works at Chapters in Windsor’s Devonshire Mall, manages a BookTube channel and spends most of her time reading and writing.

“I actually started reading when I was 16. I wasn’t a huge fan. I was quite a trouble maker as a kid, so I was like ‘Oh I don’t have time for that.’

I just wanted to be go-go-go all the time, so just sitting down and reading a book was never something that I was really into,” said LeBlanc.

Would you believe the person who said this is now a popular book blogger?

“Basically everything about my life has to do with books and I love the fact that it’s a great place [Chapters] where I can give truthful recommendations to people and it’s just a great company to work for,” said LeBlanc.

Even though LeBlanc’s interest in reading sprouted at the age of 16, it was 2014 before she was introduced to the book blogging community.

She said it was not books that inspired her blog, but rather a friend who showed her the BookTube platform (this is is a term for people who book blog on YouTube). Once she

Photo provided by Hailey LeBlanc Hailey LeBlanc is a successful book blogger known on Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. discovered the community she started watching videos.

She would sit in front of her MacBook, scan the screen for different BookTubers and watch each performance, all the while gaining techniques that she now uses herself.

Her book blogging journey began after her first year of university.

“And then it was summer, and we had four months for the first time and I was like, what am I supposed to do with all this time? This is so much time to fill, well I’ll start doing this, who knows if anything will come from it, and the rest is history,” said LeBlanc.

She is no longer limited to being a viewer but is now a BookTuber herself. She no longer sits at her desk watching but stands in front of her bookshelf filming. Leblanc has accumulated around 138,000 followers on YouTube, 34,000 on Instagram and 10,000 followers on Twitter, known on all platforms as haileyinbookland.

A consistent theme on LeBlanc’s channel preview photos are piles and piles of books that she is carrying, to the point where it looks like her back is about to break.

The first video LeBlanc said she produced was a May book

haul which included over 50 books, hence piles. A haul video presents all the books a person has received or purchased in one month and they are usually created at the end of the month for this reason.

LeBlanc said book hauls are one of her favourite videos to film but pays caution to new bloggers who are eager to start a channel.

“The one thing I hate about BookTube is that when you first discover it you find all these books. You find places like Book Outlet where you can get books for super cheap.

I’m going to buy all these books and honestly I probably read like 20 per cent of them, maybe. Most of them I didn’t read because I just saw all these different titles on Book Outlet and I was like maybe I’ll like it, so I bought a ton of them and it was just a waste of money,” said LeBlanc.

This one video rippled into many on Booktube. She said she has never concerned herself with the numbers and following, but produces content solely for passion.

“I made a book tag and a couple of the more popular BookTubers did it and I think that’s when things really got going, when a bunch of people started seeing my name they’d start following me and figuring out who I was,” said

LeBlanc.

She has read over 300 books with fantasy being her favourite genre because she said she enjoys the concept of magic and different creatures.

Her abundance of reading has made curating content easier.

A regular BookTube video contains predominant topics such as book hauls, book wrap-ups and must-read books. Reading vlogs are more of a log of someone’s reading journey.

“My number one thing that helps me is that consistency is key. It honestly is. If you are putting out videos consistently and you say I’m putting out a video every Monday, mine’s every Monday and Thursday, then people are like oh, so I’m going to get new content all the time. That makes them want to come back and subscribe to the channel,” said LeBlanc.

There is more than one book blogger in town. With books spilling off her shelves and running out of room for her novels, Carly Coombe, is a local book blogger. She reviews for Raincoast, Simon and Schuster, Dutton and Hachette Books. Coombe said she agrees with LeBlanc about consistency: remembering to post is key.

“Having a blog is like having a job, it requires work and

thought and needs to be done on a weekly, if not, daily basis,” said Coombe.

If there is not a book in LeBlanc’s hand then it is a pen or her hands are scurrying across her keyboard. Writing is also a huge part of LeBlanc’s life. She participated in NaNoWriMo 2017, National Novel Writing Month and finished with 32,000 words. The goal for NaNoWriMo is to accumulate 50,000 words by the end of the month. She said that because November was such a busy month she was unable to achieve this goal.

When it comes down to it, LeBlanc’s main goal in life is writing. She said there is only so much to blog about and knows there will come a time when she becomes irrelevant.

“If everything goes according to plan and everything happens in my wildest dreams then I would be a writer, and that’s what I’d do. I’d just be an author.”

She strolls through the shelves of the bookstore she used to work at. She ponders over the young adult fantasy section, her finger gliding over the bumps of each spine, until she stops, pressing her fingerprints into one novel in particular. It reads: by Hailey LeBlanc.

This is her dream.

7

arts & entertainment

C

FEBRUARY 1, 2018

ONVERGED CITIZEN

My NaNoWriMo journey When Ontario colleges went on strike around the end of October I never thought the stoppage of school would turn into something miraculous.

Even though I was not able to attend class, I was able to work on my passion — writing.

Before I knew the strike was set in stone I was mulling over the idea of participating in NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month. I knew with school in the mix it would make writing more difficult due to assignments. Once the strike was confirmed I knew it was destiny to start my NaNoWriMo journey.

It was Oct. 31. I was sitting in Starbucks, a table for two, laptop in front of me as I typed NaNoWriMo into a Google search and

signed up. Once my account was confirmed I then compiled my ideas into a one-page prologue.

From there, the story wrote itself and the words flowed. The characters grew, the setting was painted and the plot thickened.

By Nov. 12 I had reached the 50,000 word goal on my young adult dystopia, The Defective, but I did not stop there. I wanted to finish the book in its entirety.

As school started back up it was more difficult to continue, but once a week I would edit and add around 4,000 words.

On Dec. 28, 2017 I completed my novel with 75,578 words and 307 pages.

The moment of completion was surreal and it is an emotional moment I will remember forever. I did not know whether to cry, laugh or jump up and down. The next months will be crucial with the editing, publishing and cover design process but it will be an enthralling experience.

My best friend told me it is a huge accomplishment.

“You realize you wrote a whole novel in two months,” said Claudia.

My brain cannot compute the dexterity of my efforts. And maybe it is because I fulfilled my passion: it did not feel like

work, it was not a taxing task or chore.

I simply did what I love.

It was fun and my creativity was satisfied.

The Defective will be published around April of 2018. Keep your eyes peeled for more updates.

— BV

CONVERGED CITIZEN FEBRUARY 1, 2018

8

Flyers dethrone Kings Tate Harris Converged Citizen Staff The Leamington Flyers have moved into second place in the Western Conference of the GOJHL, with a win against the Komoka Kings Thursday night.

Leamington scored five goals against Komoka, while keeping the Kings at three goals of their own. The Flyers struggled in the first period, but ultimately won. Komoka's defensive structure would consistently restrict the Flyers from creating offence off their breakout.

"We were making bad passes, we weren't very good on the puck at all," said Tony Piroski, head coach for the Flyers.

The Komoka Kings took advantage of the Flyers' turnovers and were up 2-1 going into the first intermission. Piroski said they needed to give more of an effort if they were going to get through their difficulties.

"We needed to get better for sure," said Piroski. "It sure wasn't our best period.

Whenever you are struggling a little bit with the puck, you can make up for it with a little bit of extra effort, a little bit of

hard work. I thought we did more of that as the game went on."

Leamington gained momentum after a strong shift by the forward line of Blake Bain, Dylan Weston and Dalton Langlois. Piroski said he recently put this line together to add a "spark" to the team.

Maddux Rychel tied the game shortly after the shift from Bain's line. Rychel's goal was also his eighth point in his last nine games.

"Yeah it was good, Robo (Griffen Robinson) made a good play down low and passed it. Popey (Jos PopeFerguson) just found me and I

Sports Roundup

By Jordan Ferris Varsity Basketball

Windsor Spitfires

St. Clair College had both women’s and men’s basketball team host Fanshawe College Jan. 24. The women lost 71-59.

Jana Kucera of St. Clair was a highlight player scoring 21 of the team’s 59 points.

Kucera also had three assists. The Fanshawe Falcon’s bench outscored the Saint’s bench players 15-7. The men's team also lost their Jan. 24 game, 94-78.

Fanshawe bench player Chavaun MillerBennett led the game in scoring with 24 points in just over 20 minutes of play time.

Both Saints’ teams have a chance to bounce back Jan. 27 when they host Redeemer College.

The University of Windsor Lancers male and female basketball teams will both be competing back-to-back games Jan. 26 and 27. The games are in Windsor against the Lakehead Thunderwolves. The women's team continues to have a good season and holds a current record of 18-7. The men seemed to have turned things around from their early season struggles and now have a record of 11-12.

The Windsor Spitfires put a four game losing streak to an end when they defeated the Flint Firebirds Jan. 21. The Spitfires will have a chance to add onto this win on Jan. 26 with a game against the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. The Spitfires continue to be led from the back end with strong play from goaltender Michael DiPietro, who is tied for first in league save percentage at .920. The game will be a difficult one for the Spitfires, as the Greyhounds sit 27 points above them in the standings and are first in the west division. The Greyhounds have four players on their team with 20 plus goals and seven players with 40 plus points.

XFL Vince McMahon has recently announced the return of the XFL, a professional football league that had only one season in 2001. McMahon will be the sole source of funding and solo owner of the league, which will cost approximately $100 million to start up. The league is set to debut in 2020.

was lucky to squeak it in pass his blocker," said Rychel.

Jaydon Fetter, Flyers defenseman, was able to break the tie scoring his sixth goal of the season and the Flyers headed into the third with a 3-2 lead.

At eight minutes and 29 seconds in the third, Fetter took a slashing penalty. The Flyers have struggled on their penalty kill having the worst percentage in the league when on the P.K. at home.

Leamington killed the penalty making them two for two on the P.K. during the night.

Rory DiNiro scored the fourth goal for the Flyers,

with Cody Schneider scoring their fifth and final goal of the night. A late push from Komoka had them scoring with one minute and 26 seconds left in the game but fell short on time to make a comeback.

Leamington moves past Lasalle in the standings with them both at 52 points but Leamington having played less games. The Flyers head to St. Thomas Jan. 26 to play their Talbot Road rival.

"It’s a big game for us. It's a good test for us on a back-toback. We take the bus up there and should be ready to go," said Rychel.