Name: Shaylin Steininger
Family: Engaged to Darren Manovich, parents Kim and Val, brother Steven (wife Ameena)
Profession: Rural Autism Social Worker
Years in Grenfell: 24
Age: 24
If your house was on fire and you had five minutes to save any material item, what would it be?
Definitely my photo albums. My mom used to scrapbook, and I have three really nice albums that she scrapbooked for me. I would save those. I don't know if cats count as material objects, but they're my family! I'd save some jewelry, like my engagement ring. I rarely wear it, because I can't wear it at work. We're not supposed to have anything with diamonds because of hand hygiene. The bacteria gets stuck in there I guess. So my engagement ring doesn't actually get a lot of wear. Those are the things that are really important to me. My cell phone too. It's like a photo album. And I'd just rip all my pictures off the wall. Everything else is replaceable.
If you could bring back one fictional character to life and why, who would it be?
I think I would like to bring back Harry Potter, but less so the character, and moreso the world. It's so fascinating. I just recently started reading that series. I'm on the fourth one I think. It would be so cool to live in that world of magic. Not necessarily the characters would I bring to life, but Hogwarts itself.
Describe your relationship with your siblings.
I have one brother, Steven. Me and my brother have been very close since I graduated from high school and moved to Saskatoon with him. We are very similar people. We eat the same food, we laugh at the same jokes, think the same thoughts. It's kind of creepy! My brother helped me a lot through university, and always has good advice for me. Most recently he's taken the place of my travel agent (in addition to Shannon Dyke of course). Since we moved on from university, I don't get to see him quite as often, and I definitely miss that.
What does the next year look like for you?
I have so much to look forward to. My wedding, my honeymoon to Hawaii, and I won the Alaskan cruise! And hopefully start a family at some point. I have to say, even though I'm getting married, the most exciting thing is to go to Hawaii. We both just can't wait to get away and relax together. We haven't gone on a vacation that's on the beach. We're always doing stuff. I've never swam in the ocean. We'll go in January, and Alaska in June or July. It'll be weird to go on a trip in the summer, but you can't go any other time really.
What's the most important decision you've had to make?
The most important decision I've had to make is to buy a home. Even though Darren and I are getting married, we've been together for 8 years. I'm ready to be married to him. But buying a house was scary and new and a big commitment. Not that getting married isn't! But we're kind of already commited to eachother. The house was just something totally new. I love our house. It was such a good decision, but at the time it was really scary. Such a big financial commitment. I had the first homebuyers thing, where they give you $10 000 to use as a down payment on your house, if you stay in the province to work after you graduate. They've since cut that, and they were in the process of cutting that when we were making the decision on the house. So we kind of had to hurry and get everything figured out. I had just started a new job too, so it was really stressful.
How would your friends describe you?
I would like to think that my friends think I'm a trustworthy person. I think I have a good sense of humor, so I hope they think so too. I hope that they think I'm funny as hell. They probably know that I'm a huge planner. I hate doing things when I don't know what I'm doing. I like to have things planned, know where we're going. They probably describe me as a cat person. I'm always showing cute pictures I took of my cats.
What's the best advice you've ever been given?
My dad has this saying that if it's too good to be true, it probably is. I kind of live by that. I think it's very wise. It's true. Except for when you win a trip to Alaska. But ya, I'd say that's the best advice I've gotten.
Describe your family?
You know how everyone says they have the best parents? I could make a big arguement that I have the best parents. They're so awesome. They help me with anything that I need. I can go to them whenever, if anything is going on, they'll listen. I aspire to be like my mom. And my dad is so driven. I always brag about how good of a carpenter he is. And my brother is like my best friend. We get along really well. And he has a great wife.
Which province would you like to visit that you haven't been to?
Probably B.C. I've never been there. Darren talks about B.C. almost every second day, how he wants to go sledding out there. He's never been there either. I do have some family there, so it's kind of surprising that I've never been there. But Darren really wants to go to the mountains, and while he's sledding, I'd love to stay in a little cabin, with a hot tub. That would be awesome. The maritimes would be nice too.
What did you do straight out of high school?
I went right into university. Initially I went to university to be a vet. So I took a big turn. I failed a few of my chem classes, despite taking them multiple times. I guess I wasn't cut out for being a vet. I had also applied to vet tech school at SIAST, and I got accepted, but I would rather have been a vet, not a vet tech. So that didn't pan out. It was one year of that, and then I was up in the air as to what I wanted to do. So in my second year I started taking some social work classes. That was something else I really enjoyed. Deb (Kenny) had worked at the high school when I was there, and she helped me with some stuff, and that kind of inspired me to help others in the same way. I like what I'm doing now.