Kevin Ranville

Autobiography

I was born into a family of entertainers and growing up I originally wanted to be a famous musician. I studied music, learned the guitar, and even went into an audio engineering course in high school. I’ve written an album’s worth of music over the past 10 years or so, but have not yet had the opportunity to publish any of it.

Later in high school, I got interested in the drama program and even went off to Toronto to attend the 1992 session of the National Native Theater School. Upon returning I had a few small parts in local theater and movie productions around Winnipeg.

I became a DJ in the mid to late 90s, due to my love of music, people, and entertaining in general, and was hired as the DJ of one of the top aboriginal night clubs in the city. I also worked for Roadshow Sound and Light for several years as a DJ performing at socials, dances, weddings, and even on the Paddle Wheel Riverboat cruises.

After that I decided to pursue another of my life-long interests – computer programming. I was sponsored by the Métis Employability & Training Initiative Strategy (METIS) to attend the Computer Programmer Course at CDI College. I got a job as a computer programmer at a pharmaceutical research firm in Winnipeg and was doing fairly well at it for several years. After September 11, 2001 however the IT industry in North America began downsizing and our company eventually folded.

It was during that time that I had gotten married, and my son was born a while later. My wife and I decided that I should stay home to care for our two children to avoid some of the heavy daycare costs that would eat up any income I made if I’d gone out to find work. IT jobs were now scarce in Winnipeg. Without a computer science degree from an accredited university it was nearly impossible to find IT work other than minimum wage-level jobs as a telephone tech support representative. It was a tough decision, and we have had our share of financial struggles, but the quality time I’ve spent with my family has been worth more than money can buy.

As a stay-at-home dad I had a lot of time to develop my talents as a writer and was told by family and friends that I ought to pursue it professionally. I applied for and was accepted into the Creative communications course at Red River Community College – a very exclusive course with an acceptance rate of 25%. I was very honored to have been chosen for this life-changing opportunity.

My goals for the future include working as a columnist for one of our local news papers and perhaps becoming a novelist. I prefer to maximize the time I spend at home with my family if possible. This is why I chose this career path to begin with.

Of course with this program I’ll be able to decide after year 1 where my true interests lie. There are three main tracks a student may pursue after the first year – Journalism, Advertising, or Public Relations. The opportunities in any one of these are extensive.