Barbara Lehtiniemi is a writer and photographer from Ontario. She’s a graduate of Athabasca University, having completed her Bachelor of General Studies degree in 2018.
A regular contributor to The Voice Magazine since 2013, Barbara has also contributed to other publications including Chicken Soup for the Soul and Maclean’s. Barbara writes in several genres, including non-fiction, fiction, and poetry. She’s grateful to The Voice Magazine for providing the opportunity to explore an array of topics and writing styles, and she remains dreadfully sorry for those awful haikus.
Barbara has a fondness for travel, used bookstores, everyday absurdities, and oversized wine glasses. Originally from urban Southwestern Ontario, she now lives on a windswept rural road in Eastern Ontario with her indulgent and supportive husband, Leo.
You can follow Barbara on Twitter @theregoesbarb, or contact her at theregoesbarb@gmail.com.
Would you rather die than get up in front of an audience and give a speech? If so, I have both good news and bad news. The good news is that giving a speech won’t actually kill you. The bad news? Tthe only way to gain enough confidence to give a speech is, unfortunately, to… Read more »
Being an AU student, what I witnessed was like a scene from a nightmare. I peered into the bowl of a vast lecture hall where dozens of students hunched over desks, furiously scribbling away. A timer projected on the screen above the prof’s head counted down the minutes, then the seconds. It was horrible. Not… Read more »
I have a strange relationship with books. don’t get me wrong: I love books. I may even love them too much. I read books constantly. I often have a dozen books?not counting textbooks?on the go simultaneously. However, if I buy a book, I’m likely condemning it to a dusty death. It’s not because I don’t… Read more »
If you think the AU Student Union’s new online process for undergraduate scholarship, award, and bursary applications is going to make this fall’s application easier, you’re right! But if you think “easier” means you can wait until the deadline of November 1 to begin work on your application, you may be overly optimistic. Don’t wait… Read more »
In Part One, I reluctantly follow my husband aboard a Greyhound bus in Ottawa, bound for Vancouver. Can I last four days on a bus? Can our relationship? Our travels west from Ottawa to Vancouver by Greyhound bus were sadly disappointing. Not because there was anything wrong with the journey—it all went rather smoothly. That’s… Read more »
One of the surest methods for testing a relationship’s fortitude must be the act of traveling together. The ingredients for a relationship blow-up are all there. Start with tiredness from lack of sleep and time-zone shifts. Then toss in the anxiety of missed connections, lost luggage, and confusing cities. And top it off with the… Read more »
Is it coincidence that Talk Like a Pirate Day falls in the middle of the Canadian Federal Election campaign? Arrr, mateys, I think not! Talk Like a Pirate Day falls on September 19, exactly one month before voting day for the Canadian federal election. The now-international observance of Talk Like a Pirate Day (ITLAPD) is… Read more »
Question: How much help do students need to be successful? Answer: All they can get. Being a student is seldom easy. Even on a good day, students can struggle with motivation, juggle commitments, and walk that fine line between sweet success and demoralizing failure. And on a bad day, well, let’s just say it can… Read more »
September marks a fresh new year of studies. Earlier this week, I opened my recently-delivered box of course textbooks with the same excitement I give to Christmas presents. I’ve always enjoyed the start of a school year. Learning something new holds endless fascination for me. Starting a new course, and cracking the spine on some… Read more »
There’s a certain point in summer when the days fall away quickly, like the last desperate sands draining out of an hourglass. In early August, the summer—according to the calendar—is barely half over. Yet, just like reaching the halfway point of a one-week holiday, I begin to anticipate the end long before it arrives. Autumn… Read more »