Hi my name is Sydney, and I’m from Gjoa Haven, Nunavut the population is about 1,500 to 1,700 people.

My host family are Emily,Steve,Izzy and Sophie. They are very kind, caring, fun and supportive people I’ve met and I’m very glad I get to live with them for the summer along with my buddy Shelaine from Kimmirut. We both love to go shopping, taking pictures, trying new things and listening to music.

I chose this program because I want to gain more confidence, work experience , learn how to live in a city and try new things. I got placed in Edmonton Alberta at TELUS World of Science. The people there are nice, welcoming, friendly, hardworking and caring. I enjoy working as a volunteer student, it is a nice experience with them. I got to teach students arctic games in my first week of work. It really amazed me when they learned so quickly and I’m happy to share my culture with others.

A new thing I tried was going to the world’s biggest mall, West Edmonton mall. I went on the roller coaster and it was scary but at the end it was so fun! I did horse riding, went to the movies, swimming and rec centre. New food that I tried was chick- fil-A and it was so good. I also tried a new drink called boba raspberry lemonade from the mall (I forgot what mall but it was pretty good). I did some shopping for new clothes for myself and other things for home.

I’m getting used to going to the bus stop by myself. It was scary the first week but I’m used to it now as the weeks are going by so fast! For Nunavut day I helped people with sewing, colouring, watched taktu movie and teaching people arctic games & helped with other things. I just wanna mention that I have an uncle who did the Canadian program back in 2013 his name is Garrett and he told me some things he did! Also I have an auntie who did the NYA Next program last year, her name is Becky she told me the things we can do and told me about she did and learned during that program. I am glad to have family who experienced this program

I highly recommend youth aged 15-20 to apply to any program that NYA does, there’s lots of great opportunities when you’re done high school so try it! It’ll be worth going for, getting away from home and experiencing the city life! Thank you for reading my blog!!

Sydney,