I left my home community July 5th, me and another participant Mark travelled on our own down to Ottawa. It was an experience, we did well for our first time travelling alone. I got to meet the other participants the following Friday, and got to know them during orientation.

During orientation we did a handful of activities, my favourite was the communication activity. We got to do 3 different ones, they all represented a type of communication, such as telephone, texting, and in-person conversation. Out of the three, I enjoyed the telephone-like communication activity a little more. I paired up with a participant and she guided me around the room while I was blindfolded.

When I met my buddy I was surprised, her and I are very similar in ways. We have the same phone case, same laugh, same clothing style, and very similar personalities. NYA is very good at pairing buddy’s!

We also went to Bayshore mall for a couple hours the following weekend, while I was there I got a pedicure done and shopped for clothing & necessities. On our way there and back, we took a bus, which was my very first time on the bus. I’m having fun figuring out how to use public transit, the experience with the busses is great for when I’m back for college.

Staying on campus is fun, there are a lot of things to do and a lot of space to do assignments. The cool thing is, Algonquin College has nap pods on campus! If homework or assignments burn you out, you can find a quiet floating pod to nap.

We’re taking culinary classes every Monday while we are here, last class we made homemade nacho chips along with homemade salsa and guacamole. I am looking forward to learning new recipes to share with my family at home.

From Tuesdays to Fridays we have construction classes, right now we’re just finishing our stools. We also made picture frames for our group photo we’ll take at the end of the program. Next, we’ll start making dog houses.

I’m looking forward to watching the parliament light show this coming weekend, I’ve seen videos of the light show, but it’ll be even better to experience in person. Another activity I’m looking forward to is the beach trip, which is after our swim to survive activity. With swim to survive, we will see what level swimmers we are.

That is my summer so far, I’m so excited for the next couple weeks:)))