Hello, my name is Joellen Netser but  I prefer Jo. I am from Coral Harbour, NU known as Salliq also. The population there is over 800+. There aren’t many job opportunities, so some of the graduates struggle finding a job, so they go out of town for college. My work placement was at Steiner Bakery in Campbell River, BC. 

My host family was living on her own with her dog, a chocolate lab named Buddy. What I find different in the South is the heat is really hot besides my hometown, it goes up to like +20 back home, and in Campbell River its like +35.
And on workdays we have to wear anything that isn’t showing any of our skin and I was boiling inside because of the heat!

The culture is sort of similar to mine they have beaded clothing, beaded rings. The difference is they have a different language than us, but i learned some of the words they speak and I taught them some of my language. What I have done so far is i have accomplished most of my goals, which included going somewhere new for the summer. And I want to do more in the future and conquer the world!

An activity I did in Nanoose Bay was tubing for the first time, and I had fun.

My summer 2017 in Ottawa for NYA was worth it. I’ve met so many awesome people from many different places, learned their ways of their culture, I’ve had a great time so far, and I encourage youth to try for this program because it is a very good experience and it earns you 9 high school credits!