Arctic Bay (May 23/05) - A trip to Ontario has two Arctic Bay tech-savvy girls hooked on computers.

Before a recent visit to the University of Waterloo, neither Joy Joanasie nor Debbie Oyukuluk knew much about computers.

"I wasn't into computers. I didn't know anything about them," said Oyukuluk. But after she learned how to assemble the jumble of wires and circuit boards that make up the guts of a computer, she's now considering it as a career.

"It was fun," she said. "After graduating, I want to be a computer mechanic."

The two also learned the intricacies of how bits of information shift around different parts of a computer's memory, as well as how to create a cartoon of a dog running and jumping.

Forty eight girls were chosen from around 600 applicants for the program. Joanasie and Oyukuluk were the only ones to attend from Nunavut.

Joanasie says she likes computers because of how they let her connect with friends across the country so quickly with e-mail.

"It doesn't take as long as a letter takes. It's only a couple of seconds," she said.

The trip wasn't all about technology. During their free time the girls also went shopping and checked out the Stratford Theatre, where they watched a performance of Shakespeare's As You Like It.