When Michelle Dunn moved to Prince George to attend CNC, she didn't know a soul in town but soon found a home at the Prince George Golf and Curling Club.
Three years after moving away to begin her career, she's back as part of Amy Gibson's Vancouver rink at the B.C. Scotties women's provincial curling championship and Dunn looks back fondly on her time on the ice in Prince George.
"That's really where you meet a lot of people, the social environment of curling," Dunn said.
She was a spare in her first year in town and then played in a weekly women's league her second year, making friends and finding a welcoming community along the way.
"I didn't know anyone here, I moved from Edmonton so it was me and my books," she said.
The decision to move to Prince George in the first place was all about the medical lab science program offered at CNC. She was part of the second cohort to be accepted at the Prince George college and has used her education to pursue a career as a medical lab technologist.
Dunn first connected with her current squad through Rebecca Turley, who throws last rocks for the Gibson rink. The team went through an evolution of players at first, before settling in on the current crew last season. Gibson calls the game and throws third stones and Carmen Cheng is the second.
Dunn and her teammates are making the jump to the women's competitive level after a successful run at the club level the past season and a half. In April they won the Pacific International Cup, which gave them a ticket to the Dominion Canadian club curling championship in Thunder Bay in November, where they came within a game of qualifying for the playoffs.
"It was absolutely amazing, it taught us so much and they treated us so well," Dunn said. "That's what gave us a huge stepping stone [to provincials]."
Just days after returning from the club nationals, they made the transition to the women's competitive division and qualified for provincials on their first try. Through five draws this week they had a 1-4 record, but are getting a lot out of their experience at the top level.
Dunn said she's been pleased with her play this week and is enjoying the ride.
"We're here until they turn the lights off," she said. "You do what you can do and let the cards play the way they play."
Until this week, Dunn hadn't been back to the Prince George club since she moved to the Lower Mainland but was pleased to get such a warm welcome from everyone who remembered curling with her.
"It's nice seeing all those familiar faces again and all those people that I met here," she said.
She was also able to give her teammates a primer on what Prince George had to offer, both at the club and in the city.
"My teammates were asking what the building was like and that kind of stuff, so it helped to know," she said. "It helps that I know the town and know where we are."
