Joanna Blair, a 22-year-old psychiatric nursing student, was able to help women and children fleeing domestic violence through her work as a Canada Summer Jobs Program (CSJ) student with the Regina Transition House.
My name is Joanna Blair. I am from Regina Saskatchewan. I am currently a registered psychiatric nurse and also a domestic guidance counselor.
I got involved with the Canada Summer Jobs initially through a class in nursing school it was called family interventions . . . one of the outreach workers from Regina Transition House where I had worked for the summer had come and spoken to use about what Transition House offers in the community here and it sparked an interest in me. And so that summer I had phoned them up to inquire if there was a job available and they told me about the position of the Director of Fun and Games that was primarily granted through Canada Summer Jobs and I applied for it and sure enough I got it. My job there entailed planning fun activities throughout the day for the women and the children at the shelter.
The job sounds like a dream job to most however it did pose quite a few challenges from day to day. But, I faced them but I think it really provided an opportunity for me to get a feel for what I was about to embark on in my career currently as a psychiatric nurse. So I am really thankful for that opportunity.
I would definitely recommend the Canada Summer Jobs Program. It provided me with a wonderful opportunity to expand my horizons through psychiatric nursing myself and that's the career I am in right now. It allowed me to get a feel for what I was going into and for the most part it can be really difficult finding a job as a university student . . . I can definitely relate and I'm sure others can relate to me as well.
You know we often find jobs working in the sales field or something like that just to make enough money so we can pay for that tuition. But getting this opportunity that's more applicable to what you're studying is such a wonderful opportunity that's out there for us and I really recommend it to everyone.
Through being the Director of Fun and Games at Transition House I've actually expanded and now become a domestic violence councilor there as well.
So it provides the opportunity to get your foot in the door, show what you're made of and continue with that opportunity in whatever field you're studying.
So definitely I recommend it to all, and everyone.