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My name is Marilyn Kochon, I’m from Colville Lake and I’m currently living in Norman wells. I’m looking forward to graduating from high school by the year 2020.

I’m a participant in the 2019 Northern Youth Abroad (NYA) Canadian program. A big thank you to everyone who supports the NYA program, otherwise, without your support my experience would not be possible. This summer my host community is in Glencoe, Ontario. There is a Tim Horton’s which I don’t have in my community.

My work-placement this summer is at a ELM day centre, I walk to work every morning and at the end of the day it takes me around six minutes to reach my work placement. Throughout summer I have been volunteering at a ELM day centre. I work with nine or more toddlers. My duties included doing yard checks, raking the sand, bringing the snacks and lunch upstairs to the toddler room, and tidying up after the toddlers. After they have finished eating I would bring the dishes downstairs. Working here is a great experience, I love kids and they seem to like me and they like to engage in conversations or ask what’s my name. Today I started working with the preschoolers. Some of the kids already know my name but I can’t remember all their names.

I loved the family I stayed with over the summer. My host mom and dad Jennifer and dan, host sister Danielle host brother Michel, and their cat Ray. They’re amazing to be around. They have been so warm and welcoming, which made the stay comfortable.

Some of the fun things I did over the summer going on road trips with my host family to their ranch where they have some ducks their building a fence for their horse. They have a pool outside their house so I went for a swim. We went to Niagara Falls so it was a first for me which was fun.

Being a participant for NYA has been a lot of fun so far. The program has helped me with things like time management, being more open about my feelings, learning how to work as a team, learning more about post secondary schools,

Some things I find different in the south compared to home is the price of food or fruit, back home the prices are high in the south everything is cheap.

Thank you for reading my blog

Sincerely,

Marilyn Kochon