My Journey
Weyt-kp! My name is Jenna Churchill and I was born and raised in Armstrong, British Columbia. Growing up in a small community has been such a gift for me and I am so grateful for all of my experiences there. I would especially like to highlight my gratitude for the educational journey I had. I feel lucky to look back at my time in elementary and high school and feel positive emotions. This is definitely what inspired me to pursue a career in teaching. I loved school so much that I thought I could be there for the rest of my life!
I would be lying if I said I never wavered in this decision. I had questioned a few times whether or not teaching was the right career path for me. Due to this uncertainty, after graduating high school I took a year off to work and travel to Europe. I felt that traveling and experiencing other parts of the world would give me the clarity I was looking for. My best friend and I filled our backpacks and we headed for Vienna, Austria. We spent a month hopping around Europe and it gave me a new outlook. As much as I loved traveling and exploring new places, it gave me a new appreciation for home. It also granted me a lot of time to reflect deeply on what I wanted out of life. I realized that making a difference in someone else’s life was something I wanted to chase.
When I came home from my trip, I knew I needed to start applying to university. TRU was the only school I chose. It was risky putting all my marbles in one bag, however, I did not want to be too far from home but I also wanted to attend a university where I did not know anyone. I wanted to put myself in a situation where I could bloom on my own rather than follow friends who had already established a community. This was the best decision I could have made. In 2017 I began my Bachelor of Arts degree and I graduated in 2020 with a major in History and a minor in English. I learned so much throughout my degree and had so many formative experiences. A few highlights would be assisting professors in the history department with their respective research projects as well as chairing and co-chairing the TRU Philosophy, History, and Politics Conference.
During the summers of my degree, I lived in Armstrong and worked at the Armstrong Spallumcheen Chamber of Commerce. This job had a lot of great learning opportunities for me. It specifically allowed me to plan a lot of events for kids. I have always enjoyed being around children and I knew I always wanted to be a teacher. However, working with the kids and watching them learn, grow, and play brought me a lot of fulfillment. Though I understand that these moments of gratitude come with many challenges, I know that is an area I am committed to learning and growing in.
Hobbies and Interests
Outside of school I have many hobbies and interests. One of my strongest passions is photography. I have been working with cameras since middle school and was a founding member of my high school’s photography club. I did plenty of practice shoots until I felt I was ready to charge for sessions. This was a successful endeavour for me and I began doing second-shooting jobs professional photographers at weddings. I progressed to shooting weddings on my own and have since expanded my photography business to lifestyle and branding content for businesses. You can check out my photography website below!
Along with photography, I have recently discovered another passion of mine, blogging! When the pandemic began in 2020, my close friend Alex and I found that we were bored and needed somewhere to focus our energy. We brainstormed for awhile and decided we would start a blog called Shehaw! We began by doing a post every Sunday on a variety of topics including music, movies, interior design, and recipes. As life has picked back up since the pandemic began we use the blog space as somewhere to share our interests whenever we feel inspired rather than putting expectations on ourselves. This has been an enjoyable space to explore other passions I have as well as practice my writing skills. You can check out our blog below!