In the beginning of 2025, I had just moved back to New Brunswick after living on my own in Fort McMurray. When I moved back home with my mom, she suggested I check out the Learning Exchange. I had never heard of it before. I wasn’t going through the best of times when I met with Leah, the Program Coordinator. I had nothing to do all day and knew that I wanted to finish high school, but I didn’t know how to do that. The thought of doing the CAEC felt really overwhelming.
When I first started at the Learning Exchange, it took some time to adjust. Starting in class was a big step, but Grace, the BEST facilitator, was really welcoming and easy to talk to. I started spending my lunches there, talking with the facilitator about what was coming up in life. After the first few weeks, things started to feel easier – which, for a guy with social anxiety, was not an easy thing.
One of the first significant steps for me was starting to write essays for class and realizing that I actually like writing. Whether it was reading a topic and writing my own thoughts, I started receiving positive feedback about my work. One essay was supposed to be the average 500 words. I let Grace read the first couple of paragraphs, and she said she was enjoying it. I just kept writing and writing, and ended up with 3,000 words. I loved it. Even now, I’m looking at buying a decent computer just so I can start writing again.
I also met with Mary Snow, a WorkLinks coach, and started looking for work. After a few months, nothing was really coming up. Around that time, I started meeting with Janelle to talk about post-secondary options and careers related to writing. Those conversations started making me feel like my life was getting back on track from where I had been months earlier.
Through Youth Soft Skills, I made friends with a few people in the class. I worked with some friends to support some work around the Stone Soup Cafe, staining planter boxes and preparing the patio for summer. I also learned a lot about interacting with people, both on job sites and in everyday life.
When I was wrapping up BEST, Patrick, the Partnership Developer, approached me and talked to me about the Insulators training program. I immediately knew it was something I was interested in. I grew up doing manual labour jobs every chance I got, so it seemed like a great career opportunity. The President of the Insulators Union came and spoke with us about everything from salaries, pensions, and benefits to the different types of work involved. My first thought was insulating houses, but they explained that it’s much more in-depth — things like working with geothermal equipment, insulating pipes, and other specialized work.
Starting the Insulators training program was really exciting. There were twelve other people in the program, and our teacher, Jeff Richard, was amazing. He knew how to break the ice between everyone. Our first assignment was writing about ourselves and then talking it over with a classmate. Patrick also came in every week and brought lunches and snacks.
When we started the hands-on insulation work, it was a steep learning curve.The work involved a lot of math and precise measurements to create metal patterns and end caps. Fortunately, I’ve always felt comfortable with math, which helped me feel confident with the training.
Jeff was an amazing instructor, and Patrick was really helpful too. He would come in and make sure we were staying on top of our schoolwork and following up to make sure everyone had rides home if they needed them.
When the training wrapped up, we had a big barbecue on the last day and invited friends and family to visit. Jeff and Patrick took our workplace preferences, and about three weeks later I got a phone call offering me work in asbestos. That helped me connect with people in the workplace and get a paycheque rolling in. Now I also support work with insulation and sheet metal.
The Learning Exchange helped me become more outgoing. Before, I would mostly stick to myself and do my own thing. Now I come in and interact with people and have conversations. It really opened my mind to talking with people and being more social.
None of this could have happened without the Learning Exchange.
