Name: Kali McDonald
Family: Parents Linda & Blaine, and two sisters, Kira and Kaylin
Profession: Early Childhood Educator
Age: 20
Years in Grenfell: 18, and the past two in Regina
What is one area of your life that you're working on improving?
Something that I'm really trying to work on is being more self-confident. And not taking everything to heart, because I am a big hearted person. I get that from my mom and grandma. I'm good with constructive criticism, but taking all the stuff that people tell me, and trying not to take it to heart too much is a really big challenge for me.
When I say the word Saskatchewan, what does it make you think of?
Oh...cold!! And really flat. It's not like we live in B.C. where we have mountains and stuff. Also I think of farming, good hearted communities. Lots of grain elevators. I remember when I was younger and lived at my grandparent's house, there were grain elevators lined up along the tracks. Now all that's left is the Paterson.
What do you do to express your creativity?
That's kind of a hard question. I don't know if I'd say I'm a really creative person, but I like to have lots of family over and I do a lot of stuff for them. And at work, we do lots of documentation planning and program planning for activities, so the parents don't think we're just sitting around all day letting their kids just color or something. As an early childhood educator, I think people get mislead sometimes and think we're just babysitters. But no, I'm actually getting them prepared for school. I'll see first steps and first words. I'm strong with creative writing, so I document things that the kids do, like short stories and stuff. So I guess being creative falls in with my work.
Do you consider yourself a person of faith?
Yes, I do. But I'm not the type of person goes to church every sunday. But that also doesn't mean that I don't believe in God. I believe in spiritual stuff, like psychics and mediums. I've gone to see Brenda Hall in Broadview. I consider myself a person of faith though. I don't think I have to always go to church in order to believe.
What is something interesting about you that others may not know?
Some people do know, but I really like to do a lot of baking and cooking and stuff. My high school friends know that, because I liked to bring them stuff. I also feel like I could maybe be a carpenter... but it never works out. In theory. When I come to Grenfell, I have ideas of things I want to do, so I show them to Grandpa. And he looks at my idea and just say "I don't understand how this is going to work out" Him and I do make projects together though. We made pumpkins out of 2' x 4's. He actually does more of the work though, and I take the credit.
If your house was on fire and you had 5 minutes to save any item, what would it be?
I was just thinking about this yesterday! Conrad and I live in the city and I know what he would save - his most expensive thing. He's really big into computers and he has a really expensive computer. I'm pretty sure he'd try to haul that out! But I definitely think of grabbing as many clothes as possible. I think that would be the worst if your house burnt down and all you had was one lonely set of clothes. I guess I'd have to grab my baby book too, because my mom and grandparents documented every thing I did. I was the only grandkid for 7 years. So no matter what I did, there was a photo of it. But I'm not as worried about grabbing that, because there are lots of duplicates. They have loads of pictures of me.
If you could have a different career, what would it be?
I definitely love being with kids, but I know I'm not the person who's going to be still doing this once I start having my own kids. I don't know.... I watch my mom being a nurses aide, working in the nursing home. I think I could do that, because I work with younger kids. I think there would be similar aspects to working with older adults. Or I was thinking of going back to school to go into office administration, but also get my medical terminology, so I could still work in the hospital. You can also go anywhere with a job like that. I think there would be more stability and better pay than in early childhood.
What age do you feel right now and why?
Wow! This is another thing I was just thinking about the other day. I was hanging out with my girlfriend last night, one of my co-workers, and I said to her that I feel like I'm the kind of person to set reasonable goals, and I get what I want. Not in a spoiled way, but I feel like I'm a little more mature than 20. I feel like a 30 year old in a 20 year old's body. Different people that I've met through my journey with my career have told me that I'm a wise person. That I have knowledge and seem older than I really am. I was the only kid around when I was younger, and hung around with adults. At the shop or with my grandma.
What is your biggest fear?
I would say my biggest fear is not being able to provide for the people that are around me. Growing up in a single parent household, I feel that responsibility. My mom worked a lot, and I spent a lot of time with my grandparents. It was hard watching other kids go on family trips and stuff, and I never did stuff like that. We didn't go to Mexico, or Disneyland. My mom worked so hard though, and I still had everything I needed. With Conrad in school right now, taking autobody at Sask Polytech, there's not a lot of money in our life at the moment. But I always make sure that we have enough for both of us. He helps out as much as he can, but he has student loans. I know what that's like, because I had that too. But I always want to make sure I can take care of those around me.
What's your favorite time of the year?
I like Christmas. Not winter! But I love the season of Christmas. I love decorating my house. And back to how I like to bake, I do all of that for my family now. Grandma finds it harder to do all of that now. She puts it on, but I help out by doing all the baking. I also just love giving gifts. Even though I hardly have any money, I still go out and get everyone gifts. I wouldn't even care if I got any myself.