Hi my name is Mackenzie porter, I am 17 and I am from Gjoa Haven, Nunavut.

So far it has been more than 2 weeks in Ottawa with 14 other participants. Everyday NYA next gives us the chance to experience things we seen only on the tv, and challenge us to gain more knowledge about the city and real world. But from my own experience and how I feel, I have been loving it a lot! People say that Ottawa is very boring but I personally think it has a lot more than my whole territory. And a whole lot of opportunities, and places to explore. Being able to finally fly out this far from Gjoa Haven has been incredibly rewarding after the work me, my mentor and family had to do in order to be many miles out of my comfort zone, I appreciate them a lot.

This program has been teaching me from scholarships, how to build a dog house in trades, leadership, responsibilities, self love, expressing myself, using the bus and door dashing lol including the importance of my roots and culture, also learning the challenges and stress of post secondary life can be. But truthfully, the true lesson of all is how connected you are to yourself & your community can really uplift you.

I have never been able to work myself this hard until I had the support of my funny, beautiful friends here, especially the leaders here I truly appreciate Hayley, Mahasi and Shantel(etc). Community and helping one another is beneficial for everyone to grow. But still at the end of the day it’s who you want to be, the choices you make that can shape you. The path you choose for yourself, and how far your welling to work in order to get somewhere you want to be ,and who you let in your circle. But yeah, my time here has been so exiting, I love the big trees but the heat can get so intense sometimes.

Also I went paddle boating one hour out of Ottawa with this one family owned company referred as ‘mad river paddle company’ they made me feel very welcomed and I had such a great time. I went to a festival for the first time and tried the rides so many times to the point were I got very sick with my friends. We have been to the Garlic farm for volunteering at least 5 times with Haileigh and Lekesha, we now call it our second home now, as a joke. Many more places in such a short period time I can’t even count everything on my fingers.

I also want to mention that I met this one crazy girl, she taught and motivate me to have self love, make money, and obviously have fun. This friendship is one of a kind, and she is literally the best, she has the ability to make me laugh until I grow abs, and has the most entertaining stories and energy, she truly is beautiful. And I consider us to be two peas in a pod, I am beyond grateful for her and everyone in this program.

That being said NYA has been such a well rewarding educational program, I could never replace this for anything, I will continue to improve and grow as a women. NYA helped me open my eyes, and proved to me that I’m capable of working towards anything I desire.

Hello! I am Tristana Daniels-Nitsiza and I am from Behchoko NWT. I am 18 years old and freshly graduated from high school. I was fortunate enough to be chosen for Northern Youth Abroad and travel to Ottawa. Coming here will help me grow comfortable in a city environment and being on my own being an independent individual. 

Coming here was very hard as at first I was very hesitant about leaving home, but as the days came closer I was getting even more excited to leave and explore. I knew this was important for me to grow. Being here has given me even more reason to continue in post secondary and adventure into my new university years that will be happening this fall. 

But of course I have been homesick and it made me want to quit and go home, the small breakdowns were tough and it was hard to call home. Though for the past few days I’ve been well and even though I am missing home, I know it’s waiting for me along with my family and friends. (And my computer).

These few weeks have been jam packed though fun and exciting. For the first time I have volunteered in a garlic farm and have gone back to the residence smelling of garlic. It’s been intriguing to work at a farm and clean the garlic for sale, it’s a long process but other participants along with me have been going pretty fast cleaning them. We are basically pros at this stuff now. 

I have even worked in a trades class for woodshop/carpentry, it’s been real fun as we are building dog houses and we will be donating them for dogs to use. The building and assembly has been really fun because I don’t build at all and seeing me along with my other two group mates making this from scratch make me know that we can do anything as long as we try. I was scared to attempt this afraid I would mess up but the instructor/teacher has been helpful along with small accidents that we all do. Some of us have broke a few stuff for the tools but he is understanding and says everyone can be replaced which is nice and stress relieving.

(By the time this is posted we should have already have built and painted them) 

Ottawa has been great so far even if the air is very humid and hot, I will sort of miss this when I go home though I will continue living in a city for my post secondary in Calgary. And whilst being here my favourite trip we have done so far was going to the nature museum 

The friends I have made here I will miss them too, we all are different and that is nice because we are from different communities within NWT and Nunavut. 

Can’t wait to go home and enjoy my community and family. 

Hello, My name is Troy Tutcho and I am 18. I am from a small community in the NWT called Colville Lake. I am one of the 15 participants that got to go to Ottawa this summer. The reason why I am here at NYA Next program is that I wanted to experience what college/university life is like. I also wanted to see what it would be like leaving my family for four weeks. I knew it would be a good experience to see how living in the city and also make more connections to others who were going to the program since some might also be going to the same university I am aiming for. So far two others are going to MRU at the same time as me and for that, it was worth going to the program since I will not be as alone when leaving for university.

While waiting for the program’s start date, I felt excited and somewhat nervous about going so far away from home. Nonetheless, I did feel prepared to travel when I left my hometown and when I landed in Yellowknife I met one of the group leaders, Shantel. When we started to head to the other airport I met the other leader, Heyley. At first, I was nervous since I did not know the other there but as time went on I talked to some of them but it was not as bad as I thought it might be.  The only thing that I would say that I disliked about flying was the wait since that day I was on the plane for over 9.30 hours and in the airport for the rest of the day. 

During my time at NYA, it was an amazing experience since I learned so many different skills and even improved the ones I had. The skills I got during the NYA were carpentry, using the bus, and serving food. I am building a dog house in the trades class I am doing. While in the class I am learning how to use tools better and learn different ways to make myself safer doing them.

As for the bus, the reason I know how to use them is that NYA gives each group a challenge to do and they are doing fun activities, making food for all the participants and group leaders, and a learning activity. My group activity is a fun one and we have to plan the transport, and the date within a budget. During this, I learnt how to use the bus system and do something fun with a group of people and also learned how to make a reservation.

The reason why I put serving food is because I and three other precipitants went to volunteer for something called Ottawa Mission. The Ottawa Mission is an organization that focuses on helping the homeless by giving them food, clothes and other such things. When we were there I and one other participant were serving food, also one of the leaders was helping us, her name was Hayley. While we were doing this the other two were helping put the butter in some little containers for more ease of use. For me, it was quite a good experience since it showed me how to be more empathetic towards others.

Overall the experience that NYA has given me will last a lifetime and will help me throughout my life going forward. I can’t say that this program is the easiest but it is certainly one of the more helpful ones that the youth can go to. The reason why it is one of the more helpful ones is because this program gives you many opportunities to learn new skills. They also give you help with school, college and also making an resume. I learnt that NYA will try to help you with anything as long as it is within their ability.

Hi, my Name is Rick Aningaat and I am from Baker Lake, Nunavut.  I am placed in Quispamsis, Which is near Saint John Newbrunswick. From what I experienced is there’s trees everywhere you go, with an endless sight of ocean. There is also a river called the Kennabacasis river which there is beautiful mountains in the background along with sunsets. My favourite view of Saint John is the sunsets in KV (Kennabacasis Valley).

My work placement is at the Hammond River Nature camp and I work with kids every week with different activities each week. Every summer, the HRAA has a summer camp for the children of Saint John, along with the youth who is a Councillor in Training (volunteering to become a staff member of the HRAA) This camp has exciting activities such as Kayaking, Paddle Boarding, Fishing, and so much more!

The things I find difficult in the south is having to pack up lunches for work as back home we just head home on lunch break. What I also find different back home is the time zones, how dark it gets after dinner, and the speedometer (where here In Saint John they use KMH, where as back home we use MPH). Another thing I find different is that there are so many job opportunities in the south where as back home in Nunavut, there’s not much job opportunities.

My story to you is, I’ve never been to a carnival before in my life. And here in Saint John, the weekend we landed, was a carnival happening. My host family has taken their kids, my placement buddy and myself to the carnival, and the very first ride I went on, I fainted for a few seconds. Where as the second ride I went on, I also fainted but I also nearly puked which was not fun. Other than that, I had a blast at the carnival!!

Also Beginning of July, my host family drove us up to Federicton and we got to go to the arts and crafts museum. I found so many amazing arts and sculptures. Also my host family drove us up to Moncton to take us to the Zoo and it was also my first time to be at a Zoo. I really enjoyed those moments.

The things I’ll miss is my host family. They have been so generous with my placement buddy and I these 5 weeks of our experience. I really appreciate their help and I hope to see them again later on in the future. I’ll also miss my Coworkers. We all became family from strangers. I’ll miss saying good mornings and have a great day in the mornings and after work. I’ll forever cherish every single moment with them, I’ll definitely miss my coworkers who are like a family to me once I get sent back home.

I am really enjoying my time adventuring places in Canada. I have been trying to apply for the Northern youth Abroad Canadian program for 5 years and I have finally made it into the Canadian program. So things are possible if you keep trying.