Catherine Skrzypinski pictured at Lafarge Lake in Vancouver, B.C. in January 2025.
While this is a turbulent era in journalism (not to mention around the world), this is not the time to shy away from the stories that could make a difference. I hope my current and former students take that to heart this year.
For the past year, I’ve focused on covering issues that impact people with disabilities in the United States and Canada, along with the 2024 election and its aftermath, for the Salish Current. I’ll be at the Invictus Games in Vancouver and Whistler in February to see and speak with inspiring athletes, and perhaps snag an interview with Prince Harry!
Some of my New Year’s resolutions are to keep up with learning German, finally start learning how to play piano in earnest, and to get back on the bicycle once the weather gets warmer — even if that’s on an e-bike.
After a two-year hiatus, I’m thrilled to be teaching newswriting again on the Western Washington University campus! I resumed the J207 tradition of having students tour the Western Gallery and write a news story based on the experience. It’s always fun to leave the classroom and be out in the field.
Catherine Skrzypinski soaks up the sun in October 2022 at Taylor Dock in Fairhaven. // Photo by Catherine Skrzypinski
My fall 2022 class wrote about timely events like reproductive rights in Washington state, the housing affordability crisis in Bellingham, and how students really feel about Aramark. I look forward to seeing their contributions to The Front and other WWU publications in the coming years!
During the summer, I reconnected with my mom here in Washington state for the first time since March 2020. She encountered wildfire smoke during her stay. I also went to the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia around my birthday, and was drenched with liquid sunshine.
Outside teaching, I delved into topics like accessibility and work-life balance issues in Canada for the Society for Human Resource Management. One story that generated a lot of buzz around the HR community was one I wrote about how Canada and the United States fight ageism in the workplace.
I always look forward to the spring quarter, as it reminds me of when I started teaching here at Western — this is now my sixth year here! That means many of you are now my colleagues in the writing world, and I hope you’re all having some success in your burgeoning careers.
I’ve returned to community journalism in 2023 writing for the Salish Current. This has given me the opportunity to collaborate writing and reporting a story with one of my JOUR 207 superstar students, Clifford Heberden, on a story that delved into cross-border cooperation on the second-year anniversary of the Nooksack River flood. With Cliff’s expertise in environmental journalism, it was definitely an instance where the student became the master.
I’ve also spent time in another classroom – I’ve been taking German through Western’s Employee Language Program for the past year to communicate with my spouse’s family in Germany.
Catherine Skrzypinski enjoying the cherry tree blossoms around Vancouver, BC.
Catherine Skrzypinski in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, during the holidays, December 2021. // Photo by Catherine Skrzypinski
Two years into the pandemic, I am still teaching newswriting online for WWU and the University of Maryland Global Campus in Canada. I am hoping that we’re turning a corner now, and I’ll be able to return to Bellingham once border crossing restrictions ease.
Besides teaching, I have been writing for the Society for Human Resource Management for the past decade. One of my stories, about how the COVID-19 pandemic has set back working women in Canada, went viral during summer 2021.
I continue to explore Vancouver in a COVID-safe way, including going to immersive experiences featuring the artwork of Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Pablo Picasso and Vincent van Gogh.
I have been teaching newswriting online for WWU and the University of Maryland Global Campus in Canada since March 2020. In the past year, I have explored previously undiscovered trails in the Metro Vancouver area, taken urban hikes around downtown Vancouver, and supported my neighborhood restaurants in Surrey, British Columbia.
When it was safe to travel in British Columbia last summer, I visited Bowen Island and took a road trip on Vancouver Island, checking out totem poles in Duncan, outdoor murals in Chemainus, hiking around the Kinsol Trestle in the Cowichan Valley, and relaxing at the beach in Ladysmith.
