An article provided by Patricia Wedawin who has taken the ONE Program. 

My name is Patricia Wedawin and I’m from Gamètì, Northwest Territories. I graduated from Jean Wetrade Gamètì School  (JWGS) in 2013 then moved to Grande Prairie, Alberta to attend Grande Prairie Regional College. The program I took was Office Administration (certificate). I lived there for five years, four of which I was in college.

The first year in Office Administration was tough. The work was easy, but I was fresh out of a high school where I didn’t need to do that much work and so I wasn’t used to it. I didn’t pay attention to due dates and assignments, didn’t know how to manage my time and money. I was lucky enough to attend this college and program with my older sister, Pamela, she basically held my hand through everything first year.

Eventually I finished the program and graduated with a certificate. I decided to keep attending to upgrade in English, math, chemistry, biology and physics. This was exciting because JWGS did not have these courses (chemistry, physics, and biology) for my fellow classmates and I to learn. During upgrading, I had a goal to get into the nursing program until I realized that I didn’t like biology. I finished upgrading though, passed all my courses with a 70% or higher and I later decided to take a year off to figure out what I wanted to do next. It was perfect timing because my older sister just had her second kid, so I stayed with her in Grande Prairie and helped out. She finished her second program at GPRC while I stayed at her house as a full-time nanny, which I absolutely enjoyed.

In 2018, I decided to finally fulfill my long-time goal of moving to Ottawa and attending Algonquin College. I chose the program Tourism and Travel Services (diploma) because I have a passion for travelling, learning about other cultures and meeting new people. This goal derived from being a participant of Northern Youth Abroad in the summer of 2013, where I was placed in Ottawa and had a tour of Algonquin College. Ever since, I told myself I would come back and attend that college someday, by myself.

I was completely alone in Ottawa, no family or close friends – yet I thrived more than ever before in school and life. I knew the Northern Youth Abroad (NYA) staff and they were kind enough to offer me a part-time position (which I was able to get because of my certificate in Office Administration). I became close friends with my roommate and others that stayed in Algonquin Residence. I met other NYA alumni through Northern Compass’s first ever hub.

As we all know, COVID started in late 2019 and lockdown was mandated in late March 2020. That meant me and thousands of other students had to finish their school year online. I finished my course in April and ended up graduating online in October 2020. I remained in Ottawa and worked with NYA part-time until the summer of 2020, then switched to full-time (after the lockdown). COVID took a huge impact on the travel industry and so I wasn’t able to move forward in my career choice. I am still with, and ever so grateful to be with, NYA today.

My advice for northern students who are in high school is to try to find out what you like doing. Whether it’s art, building things, learning about culture, history, science, and to mold that into a career for yourself. You know that quote, “If you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life,”? I think about that a lot and it’s true. It took a while for me to find out what it was - and it was tricky to pinpoint it - but I love learning new things. I can’t keep going to school and taking different programs, but I can travel the world and experience different cultures and ways of life. I can teach them about my own along the way. Don’t worry if you don’t have it all figured out now, you’ll get there soon enough. Try different programs, step out of your bubble and don’t keep to yourself all the time. Remember that there are millions of other students just like you who are also doing the same.

Masi, 
Patricia Wedawin.