Cambrige Bay (May 10/04) - Brendan Peterson, 15, isn't as keen on politics as his dad Keith, current MLA for Cambridge Bay and the community's former mayor.

Brendan Peterson, 15, has lived in Cambridge Bay his whole life and he loves to write. - photo courtesy of Brendan Peterson

But give the young student a notepad, a pen, and a little encouragement, and he has riveting stories he sure wants to tell.

"Mostly medieval stuff. Sword fights and that sort of thing," he said last week, while taking a break from science class.

The writing assignments that annoy many students enliven him.

"Sometimes, when they give a class project I hear some students moaning and groaning about it. They find it tiresome and boring," he said.

Not Brendan. When Nunavut News/North recently went looking for a top writing student, his classmates didn't hesitate to nominate him.

"I don't know why they picked me," he said, bashfully. But Brendan did say he gets pretty high marks in English class. On his last story, he got an "A."

Brendan simply enjoys the act of writing, and has for as long as he can remember. "When I feel motivated, I write," he said.

Movies often give Brendan story ideas.

After watching Lord of the Rings, Brendan wanted to go off and write his own dramatic tale.

His dad encourages his writing work, too.

"He always reads my stories," Brendan said.

When asked if he wants to go into politics one day, Brendan was quick to say, "Not really."

"My dad, he knows exactly what he is talking about," said Brendan. "But I find it confusing sometimes."