An Arviat woman wants to make higher education more attractive to other Indigenous students.

Amy Komakjuak is a certified interpreter-translator undertaking her final year in the Inuktitut/English interpreter-translator program at Nunavut Arctic College in Iqaluit.

The parent-turned-college-student said she is SA国际影视传媒渆ncouraging people with kids to apply for college and bring their children to attend school.SA国际影视传媒�

SA国际影视传媒淪tudents in Grade 12 are often scared to go to college or university because itSA国际影视传媒檚 a big step,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淏ut I encourage them to apply to make a better future for them and their children.SA国际影视传媒�

She applied for the interpreter-translator program back in 2019 because SA国际影视传媒淚 like to try new things,SA国际影视传媒� and was immediately accepted.

As an interpreter-translator, Komakjuak will work to bridge the communication gap between Nunavummiut who use Inuktut as their first (and sometimes only) language and the primarily English-speaking workers who run medical services, the justice system and other industries across the country.

After finishing college, Komakjuak is looking to take her career to the next level. She hopes to move back to Arviat with the goal of setting up her own small business offering freelance services because SA国际影视传媒渢hey need more certified interpreters back home.SA国际影视传媒�

Last summer she was back in the Kivalliq working in the medical travel industry and SA国际影视传媒渆njoyed that so much.SA国际影视传媒�

Aside from a six-month stint working at the Tunngasugit Inuit Resource Centre in Winnipeg, Komakjuak had never lived away from her hometown of Arviat, so leaving for college in Iqaluit was a daunting but ultimately rewarding step, she said.

SA国际影视传媒淚 had to travel with my family to further my education,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淭wo years has gone so fast. All these interesting courses that we do. ItSA国际影视传媒檚 pretty fun.SA国际影视传媒�

Komakjuak, her fianc茅 and their children SA国际影视传媒� aged 10, nine and three SA国际影视传媒� are currently living in student housing.

Compared to Arviat, the territorial capital is SA国际影视传媒減retty big for me,SA国际影视传媒� she said. Even though Covid-19 restrictions have taken some of the charm out of urban living, she said Iqaluit has been a positive experience.

The move has also been an educational experience for her children who SA国际影视传媒渉ave been attending French class as well, so thatSA国际影视传媒檚 pretty awesome,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淢y kids are enjoying it and theySA国际影视传媒檙e doing pretty well. And we can do activities here such as swimming, or theaters.SA国际影视传媒�

In addition, higher education has allowed her to build connections with students from across the territory and learn a few subdialects of Inuktitut.

SA国际影视传媒淭here are other students coming in from other communities including Cape Dorset, Hall Beach, Arctic Bay and others,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淚t gets pretty interesting to learn new words, or the way they talk, because theySA国际影视传媒檙e also learning from me. We learn something new every day.SA国际影视传媒�