WESTLOCK — After an unexpected gold medal victory at her first-ever provincial Skills Canada competition, R.F. Staples student Paige Tymkow returned to Alberta last week with a silver medal in senior hairstyling from the 2024 Skills Canada National Competition at ExpoCité in Quebec City on May 30-31.
Paige had earlier described her victory at the provincial competition in early May as one of her happiest moments, but the feeling of earning silver on the national stage was, in her own words, "ten times" as exciting.
"There was a lot of tears," she said. "I really tried the best that I could. So I was hoping for a good outcome, but I was really surprised."
In terms of what the competition was like, Paige said it definitely helped having gone to provincials beforehand, as it was very similar to provincials in terms of the four "exams" she would ultimately be judged upon.
Certainly, the technical side of what she was called upon to do was more complex, and she had a shorter timeframe in which to complete her exams. For instance, she said she was given three hours to complete a perm at provincials, while she had two hours and 45 minutes at nationals.
The main difference was in terms of the scale of the competition; a total of 45 trades were represented at nationals, and when you consider that each competitor was accompanied by family members and chaperones, there was literally an audience of hundreds of people watching the event at any given time.
The experience of looking out at the crowd and seeing all those people cheering you on, Paige said, was "honestly so surreal."
There's also the unfamiliarity of the setting. While Paige knew at least some of the other students from the provincial competition, virtually everyone at nationals was a stranger. In this respect, having her cosmetology teacher Jenicka Langford along for the trip was a huge help.
“She’s like my school mom. She’s always been there for me," Paige said.
While the competition dominated her time in Quebec, Paige did have some time to do some general sightseeing of the city and check out a few local landmarks. Although there wasn't a lot of time to spend with other members of Team Alberta, as everyone had their own way of preparing for the competition, she was able to make friends with a fellow competitor in fashion design and a couple of others in the IT (Information Technology) categories.
Sadly, this experience was not without sacrifices, as Paige had to miss her Grade 12 convocation ceremony on the evening of May 30. A pre-recorded message from Paige was played during the ceremony, but obviously, that was not the same as actually being there.
However, Paige ultimately does not regret missing the ceremony, as "this was an opportunity that I honestly wouldn’t trade for anything," she said.
“Honestly, my biggest message from this is ... I want everyone to try it out," Paige added. “Even if you don’t place, you learn so much. I honestly think it’s something every kid should try."
