Some exciting news to share

I apologize that this post is completely not climate change related, but I have some exciting news to share, to explain why I was in New York City last week, and why I haven't been able to blog:

I'm officially allowed to announce this right now, but I was recently selected by Glamour Magazine for their annual Top 10 College Women competition, and am featured in their October 2009 issue (Gwen Stefani on the cover), as the "Journalist", discussing my work with the Toronto Star and how it all really started when I was younger and my mom used to deliver the paper for a living.

Here is the excerpt from pg. 239 in the magazine:

"As a sophomore, Sidhu wrote to the Toronto Star suggesting ways for the paper to improve its coverage. She was promptly asked to join the Community Editorial Board - the youngest member ever - and soon started writing opinion columns for the Star, Canada's largest newspaper. Sidhu, whose family moved from Malaysia to Canada when she was a baby, has covered everything from HIV/AIDS in Africa to climate change. As the peace and conflict major says, 'My mother used to deliver the Star when we first came to Canada. Now her daughter write for the very same newspaper. Amazing, right?!"

While in New York City for Glamour Magazine's festivities, I met with fellow Canadian Nicole Williams, who is a best selling author and the founder of WORKS, the first media and content company focused on career development specifically for young professional women.

Something that I have always believed in and work hard to aspire is to be a role-model for young girls, who may be looking at newspapers and on the internet searching for women just like them, from their communities and hometowns, who are working hard to make change and to build careers, whether it is on climate change, medicine, humanitarian work etc. Speaking with Nicole, I felt so enthused by her energy and her determination to help young professional women that I had to pass on information about her new book, Girl on Top.

I'm halfway through reading the book right now, and I have to say, I've read my fair share of career-advice books, and books aimed at my demographic (young women), and this has to be one of the best, if not the best books I've read on the topic. Everything from the premise of the book, to cleverly using and translating dating rules to finding career success makes it not only a fun read, but a really valuable one. Young girls in our society have a lot of battles to go through on the way to the top (sexism, self-confidence, glass ceiling etc.), and I think this book is great resource to making sure we're not short-changed in achieving our goals.

That's enough personal news from me, now back to the also very important topic of climate change!! With the fall comes more ramped up momentum on Canada's position on climate change especially with Harper's visit to Obama on Wednesday and Thursday, and the potential for the Conservative government to fall on Friday - all of which I will discuss in the coming week!