It was Tia Kilabuk鈥檚 first time out of the country, as well as at the Arctic Winter Games (AWGs), which took place from March 10-16 in Mat-Su Valley, Alaska.

Kilabuk, 14, was one of two figure skaters to help form the 300-strong Team Nunavut. She has been skating since age six and practices three times a week for an hour and a half, training hard with the limited resources in Iqaluit.

She described the facilities for the AWGs as 鈥渞eally different鈥� compared to what she is used to.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e fancier there,鈥� she said of the schools and the arena. She also describes Alaska itself as 鈥渁 really beautiful place.鈥�

鈥淚 loved the mountains, and everywhere you go there are trees and mountains to look at.鈥�

It was not easy getting her passport in time, as Kilabuk鈥檚 mother lives in Toronto and had to sign off on the document in addition to getting it renewed with the short amount of time for turn-around, but it was worth it for the experience, she acknowledged.

Kilabuk described the experience as 鈥渞eally fun鈥� I landed [an axel] jump that I haven鈥檛 before so that made me really happy.鈥�

Competing against 12 other people in an already highly-competitive sport, the ninth-grader performed twice in the Level 1 long and short programs, but missed the team event after sustaining a leg injury from overuse. 鈥淪hort鈥� programs last the length of a song, while 鈥渓ong鈥� events are a more in-depth performances requiring more elements such as jumps, spins and choreography.

For Kilabuk, competing in Alaska was an eye-opening experience.

鈥淚 feel like after this, it kind of humbled me. I thought I would be one of the top [competitors], but seeing these [other] girls train everyday, it made me want to get better.鈥�

She also said there鈥檚 a lot of pressure in those events.

鈥淚t鈥檚 the way the sport is. It鈥檚 independent. You can only blame yourself. You鈥檙e either a good figure skater or you鈥檙e not.鈥�

However, she emphasized that the experience was a positive one overall.

鈥淚 really enjoyed it, and would go again for figure skating, even though it is really competitive. But I enjoyed it overall.鈥�