Hi, my name is Megan Rose Noolook. I am from Arviat Nunavut. I am a participant in the Canadian program by Northern Youth Abroad (NYA). I am placed in Halifax, NS for the summer. Halifax is a beautiful place with wonderful and friendly people. I volunteered at the Parker Street food and furniture bank. While I was volunteering at the food and furniture bank I have helped with the food for the community, my co-workers were so supportive and helpful when I needed help with things, they were so kind, funny and most fun people I worked with over the summer. I enjoyed my time working with the food and furniture bank over the summer.

The things I find difficult in the south was having to pack lunches for work as back home we would be going home for lunch. What I also find difficult is finding jobs back home but in the south you can find a job a lot easier then you can back home. Another thing I found difficult was going to other places in the city but it gets a lot easier once you get use to being in the south for a while.

My second weekend me Angela our host mom and one of her friends went to P.E.I for the weekend on Canada day. While we were in P.E.I we went to sandspit amusement park and we also went to a museum called Ripley’s Believe it or not and wax museum. We also went to Cape Breton, in Cape Breton we went  for a hike at the skyline trail. It was foggy when we made it the the skyline but it was also nice and windy while going for a hike but I also wished I saw mountain’s. Afterwords we went for a drive on the Cabot trail.

I have been enjoying my time in the South and I am thankful to NYA for helping me have this experience.

Hi my name is Angela Tassugat and I’m from Pangnirtung Nunavut. This year I’m living in Halifax Nova Scotia, my host mom is Michelle Martin and she has four cats. My placement buddy is Megan Rose Noolook  and she’s from Arviat Nunavut.

So far I have liked it here in Halifax and I am going to miss being in the city. My placement work is at the Discovery Centre where I help all of the camp workers with the kids that go to summer camp. Some of the camps that the kids did is make slime, planting tomato seeds, go to the park that is close by the Discovery Centre.

My fist time taking the bus was okay but I had the get used to the crowd that also take the bus. One time I had an anxiety attack, but now I got used to the people and I’m happy that I got used to it. Some of the things I’ve seen and went to is we went to Peggy’s Cove and we saw the famous light house. The next day after going Peggy’s Cove we went to the Dartmouth open street event.

On our second weekend we went to PEI for the weekend we went to Cavendish and we were staying at cottages. Megan and I went swimming a lot, also we went to a wax museum and I liked it there after it we went Ripley’s believe it or not. We also went to Anne of Green Gable’s, went on a walk at the beach, we went to Sands spit Amusement park. We were in three provinces in one day, we went from Nova Scotia to New Brunswick and then PEI. Big thank you to NYA for allowing me to have these experiences that I never thought i would ever experience

Hi, I’m Pat Nadli-Gargan and I am from Fort Providence in the NWT. I’m a grade 10 student and I’m spending the summer in Windsor Ontario with NYA working at an auto body shop. This is what my workplace looks like. This is an experience I will not regret taking.

This is my buddy Jacob he is from Kugaaruk and we spent the summer together and now he feels like my brother – we got along so much. I want to say thank you to my host family for taking me, and for taking us to all the places that we have never seen, even though Darren works so hard all of the time.

Thank you to NYA for selecting me and showing me this experience. I am so happy that I applied for this program because I changed so much during this time. My future goal is to travel the world and try to find a good job. I also plan to graduate high school.

My favourite things this summer was going to Canada’s Wonderland and Re-Orientation. I want to say thank you to Darren, Adam, NYA, and Lois for encouraging me to apply.

My name is Madison Migwi-Mantla and I am spending my summer in Kentville, Nova Scotia. I came from a community called Behchoko and I live in Rae, about an hour’s drive away from Yellowknife. Behchoko’s population is almost 2000 now.

My host-parents are living in a duplex with my host mom’s family, and I am sharing a room with my placement buddy Anikan. My host family’s house is somewhat in the countryside. The neighborhood is surrounded by trees and fields. Me and my placement buddy have to get a ride from our host parents if we want to go somewhere as there’s no nearby buses we could take.

For my work placement I am working at Evergreen for Special Care. My co-workers were so nice to me while I was working there. My supervisor would introduce me to anyone that was in the area and would mention that I live in the Northwest Territories which was very nice of him to do.

During my first day Sheila, my co-worker, gave me a tour of the whole place and introduced me to her family member who lives at the residence. The best part of working there was meeting the residents who live there. They are all so sweet and kind. Most of the residents are polite and sometimes would compliment my outfits. Sometimes they would give me nicknames like “my darling” or “my dear.”

During our first days here, we went to see Inside Out 2 at the movies. At some point we went to Chester to have a spa day. It was the most relaxing place I’ve ever been to. When we went to Cape Breton for two days, we hiked at tourist spots in the rain, which kind of sucked but it had beautiful scenery and a great view of the ocean. It was my first time seeing the ocean. We went to Hall’s Harbour where I tried a lobster for the first time, and we gazed into the abyss of the ocean. I learned that lobster is not as expensive in Nova Scotia as it is in Yellowknife.

My host parent Marisa took us to Halifax for the weekend where we watched the Pride Parade. It was a cool experience to see everyone being supportive. When we made plans, we had to plan out our schedule and stick to it. I have had to wake up early and get to our destination on time, such as work and timed out activities. It was hard to adjust to the time difference for the first few days.

My placement buddy Anikan respects my privacy and is nice. My host parents are nice too. Ryan talks to me which I appreciate. Thanks to Northern Youth Abroad for this experience, and my mentor for his help to get here. Thank you to my host family for hosting me during my summer placement, and to my buddy. Thank you to the NYA staff for offering this program. I would definitely recommend NYA to other teens in the North!