Holland College | Journalism student wins regional award
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Journalism student wins regional award

Melissa Brousseau, a second-year student in the Journalism program at Holland College, is the 2006 recipient of the Canada Post Corporation Journalism Prize, a student category of the Atlantic Journalism Awards.

A native of Corran Ban, P.E.I., Brousseau graduated from UPEI with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 2004 and enrolled in Journalism that fall.

From the outset, she excelled, quickly mastering rudimentary news and feature writing and introductory photography. By Christmas, she was the successful candidate for a pilot internship/freelance position at CBC Radio in Charlottetown. She spent one day a week with CBC, learning about the radio reporting business while continuing to meet her course obligations and deadlines.

Brousseau brings solid reporting and communications skills to the table, which has already been recognized by industry people outside the college program. Last spring, she completed her first-year newspaper internship at the Journal-Pioneer in Summerside. She was offered a summer job, there but turned it down only because she was working for the CBC Radio by then. She also worked briefly for The Eastern Graphic in Montague.

Brousseau has overcome tremendous hardships to continue in the Journalism program. Days before returning to class last fall, her husband Steven suffered a serious spinal injury while swimming. She spent a month with him in Moncton hospital before returning to class, quickly catching up on missed assignments and resuming her shift at CBC.

The story of her ordeal made regional news in February after she completed a 26-minute documentary, which was broadcast regionally on CBC Radio. "Brousseau's maturity and professionalism have been recognized and appreciated by all the industry people she's worked with so far," said Journalism instructor Wayne Young. "She has a promising future in journalism and is a most worthy recipient of this Atlantic Journalism award."

For more information about this release, please contact:
Sara Underwood, Media and Communications Officer
Tel: 902-566-9695
Date: Wednesday, May 17, 2006