Do you remember the story of Airdrie high schooler Caillou Pettis?

In 2015, the then W.H. Croxford student shared his experience of enduring bullying at school.

He eventually shared that story on social media with his favourite artist, Grammy winner Taylor Swift.

A couple of days later, to the shock and amazement of Pettis, Swift responded with a message of encouragement.

"The fact that she actually saw it and then I think it was only two days later that she got back to me," said Pettis recalling the moment six years later. "It's crazy just to think about not only how fast it was that she replied but the fact that she replied at all because she's so busy and has so many fans."

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Fast forward to 2021 and Pettis continues to pursue a dream and desire he first had one year after the conversation with Swift.

"I've always loved movies and stuff like that but I didn't really appreciate them until 2016 (when) I started getting into film and analyzing it. Ever since then, I've basically been doing movie reviews for various different websites for five years now."

For Pettis, this is no small hobby as his YouTube channel has nearly 5,000 subscribers and has had his reviews featured on well-known websites.

"Luckily, I was able to get on Rotten Tomatoes so when you see my reviews, they are on there now. I've recently done video game reviews and music reviews."

When he first started his reviews, he only had one site, which he published himself.

Pettis, who now lives in Calgary, said he will keep up with the film reviews as long as he's able, but is pursuing his ultimate dream of being a writer.

"That's just what I like doing the most. Whatever I write, no matter what it's about, I don't really feel like it's work, I just feel like it's doing what I like to do."

 

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