Nervous for new adventure
Nadia Metuq prepares for Northern Youth Abroad
Stewart Burnett
Northern News Services
Monday, April 18, 2016
PANNIQTUUQ/PANGNIRTUNG
It'll be her first time travelling alone, but 18-year-old Nadia Metuq is excited to start the Northern Youth Abroad program this summer.
Pangnirtung-raised Nadia Metuq, 18, will be travelling southward for Northern Youth Abroad this year. It will be her first time travelling alone. - photo courtesy of Nadia Metuq |
"I'm so scared and nervous," admitted Metuq, from Pangnirtung. "Every time I think of it I get shaking."
She'll be turning 19 while away on the trip, which involves class sessions and work placement, and she's looking forward to the skills it teaches her.
"I want to gain experience," she said. "I want to meet new people. I want to travel alone for the first time and stay away from my parents."
She already completed one of the first parts of the journey, which tasked her to raise $1,000 in her community to help offset travel costs.
Metuq said she wants to be placed in a small city in Canada, not a big one. She's hoping there might be a daycare position for her to get work experience.
"I've had two jobs, and both of them were working with kids," said Metuq. "I got really interested in working with kids. That's why I want to go through that again."
All going well, she hopes for an eventual career working with youth.
Northern Youth Abroad is an annual program that gives Nunavummiut youth a rare opportunity to spend their summer in the south learning leadership and independence skills.
Rebecca Bisson, executive director of Northern Youth Abroad, said it gives youth a chance to share their culture with people in the south and in turn learn about how other people live.
Participants also get high school credits and about 150 hours of work experience, plus 200 hours of other types of training and fun experiences.
In the past, youth have taken their work placements in a variety of fields, from recreation jobs to offices, working with animals and trades. Lately, bakeries have been popular.
Bisson agreed it can be a nervous experience at first for youth. That's why the program gathers the group for a week-long orientation with staff and facilitators, in which they talk about everything from culture shock and dealing with homesickness to smaller things such as navigating bus systems, opening a bank account and dealing with strangers.
"Sometimes being pushed out of your comfort zone is what helps you grow the most," said Bisson.
"We try to do it in the most supportive way possible so they can succeed."
It helps, too, for youth to use the experience as a platform to build on and achieve even greater accomplishments and conquer bigger challenges in the future, such as going south for long periods for school.
This year, the organization is also offering NYA Next, a program with a smaller group that will focus on half-day campus classes in construction and trades.
Bisson said Northern Youth Abroad has had lots of encouraging results and said youth candidates aren't cherry picked in advance.
"Our high school graduation rates are about 80 per cent," said Bisson, noting the program chooses youth across a broad spectrum and doesn't just pick youth already on the path to graduating.
She's particularly proud of South Baffin MLA David Joanasie, the first alumni of the program to make it into the legislative assembly.
