Ch-ch-changes

Big things have happened in the last few weeks.

1. I published a lot.

There were short investing pieces:
TD, CIBC and BMO most likely to hike dividends as bank earnings loom
BMO gets price target hikes
Dollar Tree Canada expansion not a threat to Dollarama
CIBC hikes Metro target by 5%, but warns Target and Wal-Mart could dent profits
Yellow Media posts Q2 profit, beats Street despite revenue slip
Metro raises dividend as third-quarter profit and sales rise
Torstar Q2 profit drops as ad revenues remain under pressure
Wi-LAN adjusted earnings down more than 50%, increased focus on dividends
TVA Group second-quarter profit rises on growth in French-language services
BMO ETF sales rise by $1-billion in two months
Canadians snapping up ETFs

Long pieces:
How the freemium model can make — or break — your tech business
Back to school: Let the borrowing begin
Between a rock and a great place

Blog posts:
Polar Mobile hack day sparks apps for a cause
Facebook’s Q1 earnings fail to light up social media, unlike IPO: Infomart

And even features in Arts and the Toronto section:
The 51st shade
FanExpo: Escapism, nostalgia and good feelings for sale at Toronto convention

Basically, I took Ira Glass’ advice and tried to kill my beginner-ness with a massive amount of work. There was much struggling and many late nights, but I’m lucky to have amazing editors and co-workers who all helped me through it.

2. My internship was extended.

The National Post graciously gave me four extra weeks in their newsroom. However, I have to cut that short because…

3. I got a job.

Full-time, with benefits, for business reporting. I was surprised too. It’s with Star Media Group, the publishers of the Toronto Star, Harlequin romance novels and digital sites like Toronto.com. I’m really, really excited.

4. I’m planning to move.

The new job is in Mississauga, which would make commuting from Scarborough something like two hours each way. So I’m hunting for an apartment for the first time. It’s an eye-opening experience so far, but one I’m really excited about.

***

There are a long list of people I’d love to thank for helping me get to this point and changing my life from where I was before, but I know I would forget someone.

I’d like to give extra thanks and acknowledgement to my family, my mentor, all the fantastic staff at the National Post and Financial Post and all my great friends who I bugged for advice about pitches, doing an MJ or travel.

Also notable are Ellin Bessner’s panel on business journalism this summer which really re-ignited my passion, Andrew Westoll for keeping my journo-brain sharp, Tim Falconer telling me I didn’t need any more writing classes and Edward Keenan who helped me figure out how unpaid work could really pay off.

Twitter definitely played a roll in allowing me to stay in touch with the industry while I was in communications, away in South America and before my internship. I really recommend it for how it enabled me to be informed about my friends, potential jobs, and maintain contacts. There are also dozens and dozens, if not more journalists, friends, acquaintances and colleagues who provided help, support, references, advice, mentorship and guidance. All of this allowed me to have the confidence to make the changes and do the work to get me to where I am today.

I know I didn’t do this alone and I am incredibly grateful for the opportunities ahead.

In short, holy crap, guys! It really happened! I changed my life! 😀 😀 😀