“Adventure is out there!” -Young Ellie, Up (2009)
June 7, 2016 4:25 pm Leave your thoughts
I’ve always liked her attitude to life. Everyday an adventure, everyday an explorer. This internship is my first time working in a forestry industry. As a civil environmental engineering student, thought of working in forestry didn’t cross my mind. I mean, my previous work terms involved road construction. I dealt with soil, not trees. I made roads, not wood products. What a pleasant surprise it was for me, already more than 5 months into the internship, to discover that I belong here in Weyerhaeuser Grande Prairie Pulp Mill, located in Canada. The internship is turning out to be one of the greatest adventures of my life so far.
I’ve been working as a civil co-op engineering student in the mill since January 2016. Unlike construction, it runs 24/7, 365 days a year. The mill is like a living, breathing organism. It never rests, and it constantly needs someone’s attention. Thanks to the surrounding boreal and subalpine forests, the mill specializes in softwood paper-grade pulp, . The pulp is further processed by our customers to create end products that we are familiar with: tissues, high-grade papers, filters, and even medical-grade garments. There is a lot of work involved to make that coffee filter you might have used this morning! Now you might ask, what’s someone from construction doing in a pulp mill? How easy is it to make that transition?
Effortless. Most skills from a previous job is transferrable to the industry. There are still projects to manage, there are still other workers to cooperate with. In a mill, most of the work is hands-on, thus I managed to pick up the pace fairly quickly. Of course, there are differences. Previously, I mostly dealt with inspection, but with Weyerhaeuser it has been more of project design and execution. So far, I’m liking the latter much more.
About myself, I’m a Korean-born Canadian. I immigrated 13 years ago, not even knowing my ABC’s, to a country I never even heard of. My parents wanted me to be exposed to as much of the world, so we would go on road trips to all over North America. I discovered that I enjoy being outdoors. In summer, I would ride my bicycle down the river valley in Edmonton, my hometown. In winter, I would go on ski trips with friends to the Rockies, the mecca of all skiers. I’m lucky to live in Alberta, which is a province with so much to discover. Sometimes, however, you’d find me cooped up in the house all day drawing. I’m a cartoonist, and I’ve been drawing comics for online and my university newspaper for the last couple years. The latest series I’ve been working on is called Modern Asian Family, a based on true story about myself and my family. With this blog, I will be drawing about my experiences in the mill in my series. After all, pictures really do speak thousand words. Here is the latest issue:
I’m excited to write and draw more about the stories and experiences here in the pulp mill and the Grande Prairie city. Yes, there will definitely be more to come. So long for now!
Stefano Kangsan Jun