Okay... so you want to know about ME, eh??
I was born Pamela
Marie Burnham, April 19, 1974 at the Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon,
Saskatchewan, Canada. I spent the first 7 years of my life living in Saskatoon
before my father got transferred to the Northern part of Saskatchewan. My
family lived in Tisdale, Sk for 3 years, then Hudson Bay, SK for 5, before
returning to Saskatoon.
In 1990 my family returned to the "big city" and I entered my grade 11 year at Aden Bowman Collegiate. I mention this simply because this was a real turning point in my life, nothing more, nothing less. It was at ABCI that I met some of the friends that would have an impact on my life: Chris Friesen (my best friend in high school), Jason Coutu (another good friend), Jen Hadley, Jenn Pfeiffer, Gwen Kirchner, Jason Brownridge, Carrie-Lynn Fizzell, Scott Fizzell, and Jesse Burns, amoung others. Some of these friends have remained in my life, but most have gone their own ways... all of them touched my life and for that I will remember them always.
I graduated from Aden Bowan in June of 1992. At that time I had already been accepted to the University of Saskatchewan in the College of Arts and Science. Going in I had no idea what I wanted to study, but I had a healthy interest in Psychology so that's what I chose as my major. Luckily my best friend, Collette Demasson, also entered A&S at the same time so I had someone to hang around with. Jen Hadley and Carrie-Lynn Fizzell were also in first-year with me, which made it easier...:)
While I was in University I met my husband, Rob, who was also in university and working towards HIS degree in Mechanical Engineering. We actually met on a computer BBS called MicroCity (ah...those were the days, eh??). We started chatting online, then met. It didn't take long for us to start dating, then living together, and finally engaged...
It took me
5 years to finish my 4-year BA in Psychology... but then again it took Collette
5 years to get HER 4-year BA in English, and Jen Hadley took 5 years to get
her 4-year BSc in Agriculture :) Its a pattern!!
Rob and I were
married the summer that I convocated from university. The wedding took place
on August 23, 1997 in Saskatoon, SK. Rob's father, who is a minister at the
River of Life Ministries
in Saskatoon, married us and the reception was held at the Nutana Legion Hall.
The wedding party consisted of: Collette Demasson (Maid of Honour), Allison
Burnham (Bridesmaid), Jen Hadley (Bridesmaid), Byrun Ryon (Best Man), Braven
Ryon (Groomsman), and Jonathan Martell (Ring Bearer). It was a blast!!
Upon my marriage to Rob many things in my life changed. First and foremost, my NAME changed. Suddenly I became Mrs. Pamela Martell (a BIG step from Ms. Pam Burnham I can tell you that!!). And I suddenly had more brothers than I ever expected. In addition to my brother, Greg, I suddenly acquired 3 additional brothers-in-law: Richard Martell, Andrew Martell, and Jonathan Martell. Suddenly I was an ADULT!!
After graduation I worked briefly in Wadena, SK, with the Community Access Program. The job was fascinating and involved web page creation and upkeep, setting up of a local network for Wadena and area, installation of Internet for home users, and creation of informational sessions and classes for the community. But, being a contract position, that job was soon over.
For the next 6 months I was unemployed and looking for work. I got a few small jobs here and there, but nothing serious and nothing permanent. So I applied to the Youth Experience Program -- a program to assist recent graduates of universities and technical institutions in finding their first jobs. And it worked.
Through the YEP program I found a job with Ki-Kisteymitinan Counselling Services in Saskatoon. I stayed in that job for 1 year, until their financial situation made it impossible for them to keep me on. Luckily by that time Rob had finished his degree and had started working at Cameco in Saskatoon, so my situation was not TOO desperate.
But my sudden unemployed status DID make me seriously rethink what I wanted to do with my life. Despite having a degree it was very difficult for me to find a job in Saskatoon... my degree really hadn't prepared me to meet the demands of the real world. And I realized that I needed to get a degree that would better enable me to find a career.
Strangely enough, around this time Collette was ALSO rethinking her career plans. And we both decided that we needed more education in order to get real world jobs... and so we BOTH returned to university in the fall of 1999. This time I started out in the College of Commerce, and Collette headed into the College of Education.
So this is where my career search has found me... at the U of S in the College of Commerce working towards my second degree. I have decided to take a degree in Production and Operations Management, instead of my original choice of Human Resource Management. This decision was made not only because the money situation might be a bit better, but also because I found the POM course I took to be much more interesting than the HRM course... and so here I am... choosing a new path and hoping for the best.
