SUCCESS STORIES

Vicki George

Provincial Baking Champion 2010

When Vicki George talks about her experience with Skills Canada, she conveys a perfectly blend of confidence and modesty. Of course, she knows all about ideal proportions. She represented Newfoundland and Labrador as Provincial Baking Champion at the 2010 Skills Canada National Competition in Waterloo, Ontario.

Vicki started nurturing her interest in baking when she and her mother took some cake-decorating courses in her hometown of St. John’s. Vicki has transformed that hobby into a career. “I can’t see myself doing anything else,” Vicki says. “I like working with my hands and I learn through my hands too.” She studied in the cooking program at the College of the North Atlantic Prince Philip Drive campus. When she heard about the Skills Canada Baking Competition, she saw an opportunity to return to her baking roots and do more than just her coursework.

Vicki received a tremendous amount of support from her instructors. She says her coaches shared her interest in a strong showing nationally and offered her plenty of guidance as she trained for Waterloo.

Vicki’s friends and family encouraged her training process by eating lots of goodies but she admits that their always-glowing reviews didn’t prepare her for the intensity of the judges at Nationals. “It was really intense!” Vicki says, remembering the high-level of competition she saw at the national level. She advises first-time competitors to keep their cool but she’s realistic: “Everyone will tell you to calm down, but you won’t.”

Luckily, Vicki had great teammates cheering her on throughout the competition. “Our team was hilarious!” she said. Her one-hour breaks in the middle of 8-hour competition days offered a good chance to meet up with fellow Team NL members for a boost.

Vicki is looking forward to competing again with the added confidence that working in industry has given her, but that doesn’t outshine her pride in last year’s performance. Her provincial gold medal and national certificate are framed and displayed prominently at her apartment. She says her involvement in Skills Canada makes her feel part of something much bigger than she expected when she signed up for the Skills Canada Provincial Baking Competition in 2009.

Vicki is part of the Skills Movement and who knows where that will take her!