Carla was born and raised in the West Kootenay region of BC, and is now settled in Calgary, Alberta following a dozen years living in England. Her British husband and their son keeps her on her toes, but she is currently on the final stretch of completing her BA in English through AU. In her free time, she spends as much time outdoors as she can by hiking, biking, gardening and geocaching.
Besides writing for The Voice, she loves to share her passion for words by being a Little Free Library steward in her community.
Carla’s favourite topics to write about are hobbies, current events and popular culture.
Summer is when Canadians come out of winter hibernation and enjoy the warm weather. Especially in urban areas, people see their neighbours a lot more. Kids are out riding bikes or playing on the streets and adults are out mowing their lawn or barbecuing on the deck. But does this equate to a sense of… Read more »
Spring is the season when university students push themselves like crazy to finish course work and exams so that they can enjoy the summer. Because Athabasca University students do not follow a traditional course calendar like other universities, they seem to constantly push themselves to their limits. AU students are known for being master multitaskers;… Read more »
An acquaintance of mine who lives a few streets over recently posted a desperate plea for help on Facebook. Her husband?a Type 1 diabetic for most of his life’suddenly became a statistic. He has suffered severe kidney failure because of his diabetes. The family is now facing a race against time to find a new… Read more »
Canada’s 150th birthday year is gearing up for its big party on July 1. There are lots of celebrations planned in towns and cities across the country, but many Canadians still feel unsure about how they can get involved. One Calgary-based initiative is hoping to change that. Called “3 Things for Canada”, it is designed… Read more »
A recent Facebook message sent by someone I went to high school with informed me that a group from our grad class was starting to plan our 30-year reunion. After reading it, I had two reactions. The first one was, “We are just not that old—seriously; weren’t the 1980s just ten years ago?” and the… Read more »
The Voice Magazine spoke to one AU student who epitomizes the late bloomer mindset. Many students will recognize JoAnne Formanek Gustafson from the unofficial Athabasca University group page on Facebook, where she volunteers as the group’s administrator. Some may remember her from our AU Profile in 2009, and if you ever wondered what became of… Read more »
February is such a meh month. The memories of December’s magic are about as stale as a piece of leftover fruitcake, the dark winter days feel like they will never end and spring will never arrive. If a mood-boosting tropical vacation is out of the question, what can you do to get out of the… Read more »
Parents would never dream of handing a child or young teenager the keys to the family car and telling them to drive down a busy freeway, but when it comes to technology, they are doing exactly that. While kids and teens have a natural affinity with technology, letting them be in the driver’s seat about… Read more »
January is a time for goal setting, and perhaps one of your goals is to finally get organized. Perhaps You’re tired of the fact that your ever-growing list of tasks gets lost among a stack of sticky notes and You’re frustrated at losing important bits of information. Or maybe you keep meaning to document all… Read more »
January is a time of new beginnings?and also the ubiquitous resolutions. These plans and goals are all made with a lot of optimism and the best of intentions, but they always seem to fall away by February. Breaking New Year’s resolutions seems to be as much a part of making them! Psychologists say that January… Read more »