April is deemed National Volunteer Recognition Month. We decided to pay tribute to some of our Citizen Journalists who have gone above the call of duty to deliver quality stories.
Meet Michele Smith-Aversa. She has been with our online-media site since the onset. Her creativity, intelligence, compassion, and strong writing skills have been a pleasure to witness. Writing is her passion. She lives to share the written word.
“I find life to be boring. Writing gets me out of reality. It’s an escape”–she said.
Michele lives in Wyoming with her husband Mark and in addition to writing and volunteering she loves to sew, bake, make jewelry and decorate. “If I can create and change something boring and make it beautiful to present to the world–that’s something.”
She is a member of the Cascade Writer’s Group and is working on getting her murder/love story book published. It is a 17 chapter, 70,000 word novel entitled, “Christmas is the Season.”
Her volunteer work at Focus on Ferals on 76th and Clyde Park is another passion. She looks after the cats, socializes them, cleans floors and kitty litter–anything she can do to get them adopted out. “If I can make a difference in one life–my life is worth something,” she said emotionally.
Michele’s life has been a constant struggle with her fight with Borderline Personality Disorder and anxiety. “I fight day in and day out. I don’t ever remember not being like this,” she disclosed.
She is currently in treatment at Pine Rest in a (DBT) dialetic behavioral therapy program.
“I take life each hour at a time.”
Michele also recommends that people don’t treat others with depression lightly by saying: Get over it, or let it go. “Unless you can teach me how to get over it, don’t say that,” she explained.
The WKTV Citizen Journalism team is proud to salute Michele Smith-Aversa. With all of her writing talents, she tends to take an ordinary story and make it extraordinary. She uses her rare brand of humor to examine everyday life situations in a unique manner. We are definitely happy to have her on board as one of our superstar writers!
If you would like to become a Citizen Journalist, call the station at 261-5700 and ask for Colleen, Janice, or Mike. 
