My name is Ava Qaunaq, I’m currently 16 years old, and I’m from Grise Fiord, Nunavut.

This is my first time on the Northern Youth Abroad program, and I’m really enjoying it at my placement. I was placed in Milton, Ontario, with a population of at least 142,000 as of 2022. I’ve worked with a couple of wonderful people, but met even more.

My placement buddy’s name is Catherine Pudlat, and she’s from Kinngait, Nunavut. Lisa and Michael are our host parents; they’re so kind and very welcoming. They have two sons and a cool old dog named Roo, but I nicknamed her rhubarb. We spend a lot of days in their backyard pool, and that’s where I found out I could swim. On our first weekend, we went to the Milton Mall, did a small amount of shopping, made rhubarb crisp and went for an evening swim.

My work placement is very flexible with where I work, so I could either be at the Milton Leisure Centre, Sports Centre, Sherwood Community Centre, or rarely the First Ontario Arts Centre. At my work placement, I usually handle storage inventory, filing, and occasionally cleaning or organizing. Next week, however, I’ll be working with camps. The first week at work went really well, actually, but I couldn’t stand the heat. Now that it’s been two and a half weeks, I feel like I’m not as bothered anymore.

Three things that I’ve learned while working here is 1st Being uncomfortable while doing something new is a great opportunity for you to learn and see where it’ll take you. 2nd keeping a workplace/day camps safer and efficient, and lastly, taking your time with others hearing their feedback and communicating really builds your confidence. My supervisor, Crystal, is really, really kind and a cool person to be around. If we were to go into any Milton facility, she’d know pretty much everyone there.

My favourite thing we’ve done so far was going to Toronto and shopping at the Kensington Market. The stores, clothes and food are all so different there. We also went up the CN Tower, and it was Catherine’s first time up there, which made it more fun. Catherine and I get along really well, and I’m very grateful that we do. Almost every night we’re up just about the time everyone’s half asleep, and we’d just laugh so much, it’s so funny. We still haven’t done all the activities we wanted, but the following weeks will be exciting. We plan to visit Canada’s Wonderland, Hot Topic, and an ear piercing place. Personally, I’m really excited about Garage.

So far, I haven’t been severely homesick; I’ve mainly missed my family, friends, hunting and driving. During my stay here, I’ve learned a lot about down south life, camp leadership, administration, and what it takes to be the best version of yourself while doing the right things at work.

And now, I want to dedicate this part of my blog to express how thankful I am to have participated in this program. The NYA team is so supportive and patient, and I’m so happy i got to know the participants, and make new friends.

Huge thanks to my family, friends and my mentor Vivian, for supporting and helping me through this NYA process. I’d also like to give a big thank you to the Grise Fiord housing, the Co-op store, Grise Fiord HTA and people in the community who helped me during my fundraising for the NYA trip. All of your support is deeply appreciated, and it truly made me feel closer to the community. I hope you’ve enjoyed & thank you for taking the time to read my blog! 🙂 Bye guys!

Sincerely,

Ava Qaunaq.