Saulteaux student earns CBC scholarship

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Michelle Hiegli is going to spend the summer as an editorial assistant and researcher for CBC Newsworld in Calgary.

The 19-year-old Saulteaux Nation member of the Yellow Quill First Nation, who resides in the provincial capital, is one of eight journalism students from across the country who have been selected for a Joan Donaldson scholarship.

As part of this year's celebration of CBC Newsworld's 10th year on the air, the public broadcaster created these four-month-long paid summer positions for promising young reporters.

Joan Donaldson was the founding head of CBC's all news network. In 1990, while walking to work in Montreal, she was struck by a cyclist and suffered massive brain damage. Now 52-years-old, Donaldson lives with relatives.

She has lost the use of one arm and her short term memory is severely limited. Susan Snelgrove, the assistant to Newsworld executive producer Jay Mowat, said the Donaldson scholarships honor a lady who taught at Toronto's Ryerson College in addition to her duties at CBC because she enjoyed encouraging young people to enter the profession.

The selection of Hiegli is great news for both the aspiring reporter and her school, the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College.

"This is a great opportunity for the college," said Shannon Avison, the director of SIFC's Indian Communications Arts department. "It was very exciting for us, an indication that in somebody else's mind, we'd hit the big time."

Avison said Hiegli is an outstanding student who is worthy of the honor.

"I'm so pleased she got it. She's a bright, motivated young woman with an inquiring mind. She knows exactly why she's in the program," she said. "She knows exactly why she's at school and she knows exactly where she's going. Michelle is an extraordinary student and a delight to be around."

Hiegli told Sage she is excited by the opportunity and just as excited by what her selection says about her school. She hopes to write for this paper when her internship is complete and she returns to school in September.