Take your kid to work day is a nationwide event where grade 9 students accompany their parents, or another adult to work. The goal of take your kid to work day is to develop an understanding of the similarities between classroom learning and work life and to appreciate all that goes into working to provide for oneself and family.

For me, take your kid to work day was an information packed day of tours, meetings and de-egging a salmon (yes you read that right, and no that’s not the proper terminology).

After google maps leading us in literal circles, and almost losing someone’s dog, I hoped the day could only get better. Thank goodness I was right.

We started of the day at the Capilano Salmon Hatchery and were given a tour of the facility. I learned so much about salmon and have a newfound respect for hatchery workers. Did you know there’s a head depot? As in a depot specifically for fish heads. Blew me away.

The second half of the day took place downtown in the Douglas Jung building. In case you’re wondering who Douglas Jung is (like I did) he was the first Chinese-Canadian member of parliament. The Douglas Jung building is home to the offices of three government divisions, Environment Canada, Climate Change Canada, and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. They kindly organized a meeting with speakers working a variety of professions.

The highlights of my day included being able to get hands-on at the hatchery. Harvesting eggs and sperm from salmon was an unexpected surprise and was actually more interesting than horrifying. Another highlight was the tour the conservation officers gave us of their offices. They had a large display of confiscated items which included an elephant foot, carved ivory and an alligator head, to name a few. In another room the officers showed us items from an active investigation. I was shocked to see live snapping turtles and a spiny soft shell turtle, which I promptly named the Pinocchio turtle for their long nose.

I learned a significant amount in one day. My learning ranged from sustainability and what the government is doing to try and protect our environment to insane stories of the attempted animal smuggling into our country to practical workplace applications. In fact, I didn’t think I would learn about a possible career path that I’d be interested in, however I did when I met a woman who works in communications for the government.
This experience showed me that regardless of the field, work isn’t static. Things are always changing, people learn and grow at every age and stage. It was evident through meeting various people during the day that the common thread for everyone was an ability to think critically and adapt to adversity.

Feel free to check out my video capturing the learnings of the day.