Karen McDonald

WORDS BY KAI OASIS CARDINAL

My name Kai Oasis Cardinal. I am 17 years old and I’m getting ready for graduation from East Three Secondary School in Inuvik. I chose to interview my grandma Karen Mcdonald because I was interested in what it was like for her to be young. She is 71 years old now and it was so cool to interview her. I never took the time to talk about her life before I was born and I learned something new about her—that she had a pilot’s license when she was younger! Karen’s younger brother was very interested in flying, he ended up getting his commercial license as soon as he could, around 16. In the summer of 1969, a flying school came up here and her dad bought her pilot lessons for her birthday. She did fly a plane across the country when her flight schooling was over with her instructor to Edmonton, Alberta. It took two days to fly from Inuvik to Edmonton. In a Cessna 150, she went through Norman Wells, Rigley and overnighted in Hay River. To get a license, she had to learn a lot about weather, and about how the plane works, but she said it’s not that difficult if you have an interest in it.

I always respected her as I grew up because of the person she is; she is always nice. Now that I have learned something new about her I have even more respect for her. She’s brave and has achieved a lot in her time such as starting her and my grandfather’s business McDonald Bros Electric. That’s why I look up to her as a role model and good parent. I’m glad I had this opportunity to share her story with the readers. Doing the interview made me inspired to try and interview more of my grandparents so I can share their stories. I hope that one day my grandkids think I’m cool enough to interview when I’m old.

PROFILES WRITTEN BY ELA 30-2 STUDENTS AT EAST THREE SECONDARY SCHOOL