By Sam Lirette
Learning Centre student at G.P. Vanier
FALL RIVER: Last week I met Pat Healey for an interview. I wanted to interview a reporter because I want to be a reporter. I shared my ideas with Georges P Vanier principal Mrs. Amaral. Then I wrote eleven interview questions and showed them to her; hoping she could set up an interview for me. I was so happy when I found out he was coming to the school to meet with me.
On Thursday, December 5, Pat Healey came to GPV and we sat down to talk.
The first thing I wanted to learn from Pat was about how he became a reporter. I learned about when Pat was about my age he used to bike to the newspaper to see if there was anything he could help with. Pat knew he wanted to be a reporter when he was young too. He became a reporter by going to Holland College.
I wanted to know what it is like to be a reporter in my community, so I asked Pat about it. I was surprised to learn that he doesn’t work in an office. Pat writes for “The Laker” and “The Weekly Press” on the road. He works on his stories at home or at places like Good Day Cafe; he said he was heading to Tim Horton’s after our interview to do some work.
Pat Healey has been a reporter for 18 years, in the beginning he was a reporter in Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island. Pat has been a Super Community Reporter for the last 11 years. He says that there are great stories to tell every month.
Pat is really happy to tell stories about young people in the community, like me. Some of his favorite stories to tell are good news stories. He says,”I like the good news stories, the ones that warm your hearts, especially here, given that it is the holidays.”
Then I asked him about sports reporting because I love sports and I want to be a sports reporter. He just went to Lockview to cover basketball. Basketball is my favorite sport. Pat said he would try to cover one of my teams basketball games. He even invited me to watch a basketball game he will be reporting in January. I was so excited about the chance to work with him.
I next asked him about his cat. He said he got his cat at the Halifax Cat Rescue Society. Her name is Asha and she just had a birthday. She is six or seven, he has had her for five years. Asha is his therapy cat because he talks to her and cuddles her.
I was happy that Pat Healey came to my school.. It was good to talk to him because I want to be a reporter too. I would like to thank Pat Healey for coming to my school, and also inviting me to go with him to a future basketball game at Lockview High School. He will be reporting the game, and I get to see him doing his job.
