Hi! My name is Catherine Pudlat. I am 15 years old. I am from Kinngait, Nunavut. For the past five weeks, I was placed in Milton, Ontario. I was placed with my host buddy Ava Qaunaq; she’s from Grise Fiord, which is really cool. I get along with her very well. And I’m very happy to have met her and consider her one of my friends. Sometimes we talk for a while without even realizing it. And laugh a lot when everyone is sleeping. My host parents are very nice people and very welcoming. Their names are Lisa and Michael. (My dad’s name is also Michael lol).

They have 2 sons who are also very nice people. They also have a very adorable dog named Roo. But I call her rhubarb. Ava nicknamed her that. I had lots of fun down here. Mostly in Toronto. I went to the CN Tower for the first time. It was so cool. But I was a little nervous at first. We also did some shopping in our first week here. Ava, my host mom Lisa, and I have also been watching the Star Wars movies; it’s fun to watch, and I highly recommend it. I also rented a guitar and had 2 lessons at the House of Chords. I had an awesome teacher named Cameron, who is so cool. She is the best teacher and friend, even though we only met twice. We are also planning to go to Canada’s Wonderland, which is exciting. I volunteered at the Art Center’s day camp, and it was a lot of fun. I get to play games, learn and talk to the kids.

I met many nice people during my work placement. And I’m very lucky to call them my friends. I had the pleasure of working with them. Lastly, I would like to thank NYA for providing me with the opportunity to participate in this program and for believing in my abilities. And to my family for allowing me to go down south for the summer, and for helping me with the fundraising. And to people who donated in my community. And to my mentor, Peter, for helping me with my winter assignments. And my host family for welcoming me and Ava, two strangers to their home. And to my supervisor, Sherry, for taking me in. And thank you all for reading my blog/reading my yapping. Bye 🙂

Sincerely,

Catherine Pudlat