CENTRE WELLINGTON – Centre Wellington District High School’s (CWDHS) Bridgette Merry brought home the silver medal for Ontario for workplace safety in the Skills Canada Virtual National Competition.
“When the announcer announced my name, I felt ecstatic, it was pure excitement,” Merry explained. “It’s not every day that your name gets announced being second in the whole country.”
After many late nights and a lot of Google Meets, Merry said it was rewarding to know that all the hard work paid off, adding the experience has helped her learn and understand the importance of workplace safety.
“Just overall I was so very proud to represent my family, my school, my community and as a member of Team Ontario,” she said.
Merry, Grade 11, competed provincially on May 4 and after medalling gold, moved on to compete nationally on May 27 against nine other provinces. As her first time competing, Merry said she didn’t really know what to expect.
“I had just won the Ontario competition so I kind of knew what to expect but I knew that the other competitors would also bring lots of knowledge and skills,” she said.
“This year was pretty hard knowing that I was going up against people who had competed before and just had a little bit more knowledge than me but believe in yourself and do the work and eventually it will pay off,” Merry said in her advice to future students considering competing.
After high school, Merry wants to be an anesthesiologist. She hopes to get into McMaster but is also looking to apply to McGill University and University of Guelph.
“This competition actually really helped with getting to know safety, which I know is really important for healthcare.”
CWDHS co-op teacher and Merry’s coach Jenny Ritter said she noticed Merry had a knack for the safety component of the co-op course so she reached out to her and asked if she would be interested in competing.
“What stood out to me was Bridgette is very bright,” Ritter explained. “She picks up on things quickly and she is an excellent researcher so she’s able to access information and implement what she can find.
“So, she’s very resourceful, and she speaks well … and that just really stood out to me. Even when I did a mock job interview with her, she’s just so well spoken and had that confidence that I felt she would do well in the competition.”
Prior to the competition, Ritter had instructed Merry to add in some of her own personality into the activities to help impress the judges and emphasize her knowledge about workplace safety which Merry said thankfully worked out very well in her case.
To prepare, Ritter went through photos of safety hazards with Merry. Merry had to identify the hazard and the category the hazard is in, then explain how to control it in the hierarchy of hazard control.
“I couldn’t have done this without the help of her,” Merry explained. “She generously gave the time and knowledge to help prepare me for both the provincial and nationals. “
The medalists were announced in a virtual ceremony on June 15.
“As soon as they announced her name, I was extremely proud of her… and I really felt that she deserved to win,” Ritter said. “I wish I could have been there with her.”
Merry said she is hoping to compete in the Skills Canada competition again next year.
