Finding home in Quaqtaq: An interview with Cameron Jolicouer
In 2013, Cameron Jolicouer had just graduated from Lakehead University. He packed a few essentials, including his guitar, and headed to Quaqtaq, Nunavik. Fast forward 10 years… this tiny village with a population of 460 now feels like home to him.
“When I came here, people said: “Get ready to be isolated!” And I would just tell them, “I had to take the school bus an hour every day when I was growing up. So, this is actually nice, walking five minutes to get to school,” Cameron tells me, laughing.
In the beginning, finding time for himself outside of work was difficult. The learning curve was steep, but things eventually got smoother.
Once you get into the groove of things, you kind of learn how to manage your time better, and you have more time to do the things you enjoy like playing music, reading or whatever else you like doing.
When speaking about his life in Quaqtaq, Cameron says he loves the fact that everything (and everyone) is laid back and quiet: “It gives you a lot of time to think, a lot of time to take up a new hobby, or just about anything. You have a lot of time here”. Something precious for a musician like Cameron.
Coincidentally, his workplace gives him the latitude he needs to integrate his passion for music in class. Cameron recalls the genuine interest and sparks of joy he saw in his students’ eyes during guitar lessons he organized a few years ago. He also recalls three secondary students he worked with and their guitar trio performance at a Christmas concert. “When you see students getting really excited and interested in something, that’s really nice,” he says.
These moments make Cameron feel like he is in the right place, doing the right thing. That and the touching graduation ceremonies:
“You know, when you have a secondary student who’s really like discouraged and mentions dropping out and you tell them “No! You’re not!” and you just kind of push them through. Then, seeing them at graduation, giving a speech and they tear up, that’s a really nice moment for sure. There’s also been one time when [a former colleague] told me, when their daughter was graduating, “Thank you, she couldn’t have done it without you”. It was also really nice moment.”
Cameron currently works at Isummasaqvik School as a special education teacher, a role he truly enjoys.
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