PAULATUK
Cheyenne Qivuitchiaq Wolkie has big plans. The Grade 12 student at Angik School in Paulatuk says she knows what she wants for her future.
Cheyenne Qivuitchiaq Wolkie, Grade 12 student at Angik School in Paulatuk, is always ready to help out fellow classmates. - Scott Lough photo |
"I'd like to explore the world and further my education," she said.
Wolkie has one of the best attendance records in her school, which she said will help ensure she is ready to graduate and head off to college.
Music is one of the pathways she is considering.
"I'm thinking to become a composer or play my own music," she said. "I play the guitar and I'm slowly learning how to play the drums."
While music is her passion, she said she is also thinking about taking the business administration program at Yellowknife's Aurora College.
When she's finished post-secondary school, Wolkie said she wants to travel. First stop, California, the home state of her favourite band - Metallica.
"I've been a fan of them almost all my life," she said.
Next, Wolkie said she wants to visit Brazil.
"I think it's a new cultural background that I would like to learn," she said. "I'd like to see how they live there. I've never been outside of Canada."
Travelling will also help polish her photography skills, another subject Wolkie said she loves.
Right now, Wolkie and her classmates are working on a photography project taking pictures of local elders.
"I'm really active in photography program," she said. "We're working on the elders' wall, the elders' portraits to put on the wall."
Wolkie's upbeat attitude doesn't go unnoticed at the school, said teacher Mike Mansfield.
"All the teachers agreed that Cheyenne is a very good role model for the younger kids in the school," he said.
"She's here every day and she always has a very positive attitude," he said.
Mansfield said Wolkie is also supportive of other students. Wolkie said she believes it's important to encourage others, especially if someone is being bullied.
"I always try to keep them on the positive side of life," she said. "I tell them they don't need to think about what other people say about them. I know how it feels.
I really talk to them and make them feel better."
Manfield said Wolkie is always ready to lend a hand, such as offering her help during gym classes for students in kindergarten to Grade 2.
"It's really good to be with them and have fun with them," she said.
When she's not in school, Wolkie also spends time with her family helping with traditional activities, such as geese hunting.
She also enjoys sewing, which she learned by watching more experienced seamstresses.
"Nobody really taught me, I just watched our sewing teachers," she said.
"I like to see how they make the patterns and cut the fur, how they sew, how they stitch."
Wolkie competed at the Skills Canada National Competition for the past four years and although she has never won, she said that doesn't matter to her.
"I didn't win, but I didn't really care about winning," she said.
"I just wanted to be a part of the skills competition and make mitts."
Sealskin and rabbit fur are her two favourite materials to work with.
Mansfield said Wolkie's attitude toward life is a great inspiration for the other students. "Any program or activity that comes through the school, she's always the first on the list," Mansfield said. "She gets involved."
