On Call by Vanessa Carter – Awkward First Dates – Cornwall Ontario – February 14, 2010

My name is Vanessa Carter, the daughter of Richard & Micheline Carter & sibling of Melanie Verdone, Matthew & Chad. My family has supported me throughout every endeavour, so I need to mention them from the start.

Although I presently live in Ottawa, my parents reside just outside Cornwall, where I have to admit I go home quite often on weekends for good home-cooked meals as I have yet to develop any sort of  cooking skill other than throwing frozen vegetables & chicken together which I personnaly think makes a pretty mean stir-fry.

I’m sure by now you’re wondering who is this girl? I know the Carter last name, but where does she fit in there? Have I seen her name in the paper before?  Well you might have, as I’m the recipient of the first Cornwall Medical Student Scholarship. That’s right, I’m presently a first year medical student at the University of Ottawa, in the French stream & will be returning to the City of Cornwall once I complete medical school to open a practice as a family physician.

Although my academics have always somewhat defined who I was, I’m sure that if you would ask anyone to describe who is Vanessa Carter, as my father would always introduce me; I am the goalie. Yes, that’s right, the nerd plays ice hockey & I have for most of my life.

I think that being I’m the third child & only a year older than my little brother Chad, I’m sure if you’d ask him, he would  have no hesitation in saying that I did in fact follow him everywhere he went, joined every sport he joined & therefore played on every team he played for. Yes, he was the lucky kid whose sister always tagged along & although I’m sure was teased often by the boys, he never left me behind.

I’m aware that this might seem like a lot for a “first-date”, but if I would have to quickly define myself as a person, it’s pretty simple: my family means everything to me, hockey was the air I breathed for years, & lastly I am passionate of continuing my education in the medical profession to one day (in a few years to be exact) become a great family doctor in the City of Cornwall.

I am excited to have this great opportunity to write about the various ideas & thoughts that are on my mind as I continue the whirlwind as a medical student & hope to capture some interest from readers.

A big thank you to Andre Pommier,of Pommier Jewellers,  my sponsor, and to Jamie Gilcig for giving me this opportunity. I would like to warn you in advance, which I’m sure you have come to realize; my first language is french & I have studied sciences & medicine mostly & I can’t say that any journalism classes were ever among my schedules, therefore I apologize in advance for any future confusion, or horrible sentencing, but I promise you these blogs will be me, Vanessa Carter, & I hope you have as much fun reading them as I will writing them.

Until our next date, oh & how could I forget, I’m a Leafs fan!!!

Vanessa Carter

5 Comments

  1. At last, a Leafs fan writing in the Cornwall Free News. I can be confident that your opinions will be level headed and factual, not like those bipolar habs fans.

    Good luck with your studies and I will look forward to reading all of your columns.

  2. Great to hear from a young person working her way through life. You seem to have both feet on the ground, or perhaps the ice. Keep it coming. Some people do switch hockey teams as they age … there is always hope for you. Calendar Man has not yet seen the light … there is always hope for him too.

  3. Great introductory article Vanessa. That was a lot to take in on out first date, to bad you are a leafs fan. But I think we can get past it on our second date lol ;).

  4. She is deff an awesome person 🙂 so much ambition. Great personality and sense of humor. Awesome doctor

  5. Well here it is the 27th of October, 2020 and Vanessa Carter is now my family doctor. I found her to have a calming presents both welcoming and warm. I believe that we have found a very fine family doctor to care for our needs. I feel that Cornwall is a better place due to providing an environment where families want to grow and stay within. I must thank her for being here for the community of Cornwall, Ontario.

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