Dubois excited by the challenge

By Courtney Rodriguez

rodr0086@algonquincollege.com

Algonquin alumni Stacy Dubois is set to compete in the 40th World Skills Competition in September 2009.
Dubois will be one of 37 young competitors representing Canada at the worldwide competition, which will be held in Calgary, Alta.
Her first competition was in May 2007 while finishing her diploma at Algonquin in office administration - legal.
“Christine Doody, a professor of mine, mentioned to all of her students that there was something called the Ontario Technological Skills Competition,” said Dubois.
Dubois’ category, IT/software applications, was designed to test the competitor’s abilities in Microsoft Office software, including Excel, Word, PowerPoint and Access.
“Being a keener and pretty confident in my ability to use that software pretty well, I expressed interest in it,” said Dubois.
Soon after, she headed to Kitchener, Ont. to compete against other Ontario students in the OTSC, and took first place. A few weeks later in June 2007, she flew to Saskatoon, Sask., to compete in the national contest, the Canadian Skills Competition.
“It was a two-day competition and it was really intense,” said Dubois. “Knowing that you’re up against the best from each province and territory across the country is a little intimidating.”
Dubois didn’t let the intimidation and a bad cold get to her as she focused on completing the tasks, and won first place.
“I’ve never been much into sports or any other super competitive type of activity before, so it was my first time standing on the first place spot on a stage with a gold medal around my neck,” said Dubois. “I was text messaging my family and friends like crazy after I got back to my seat to tell them I’d won. It was really fantastic.”
Dubois was eager for another shot last spring when the OTSC competitions were set to start. This time around, the stakes were higher, as 2008 was the qualifying year for WorldSkills, the international level of the competition.
“I really wanted the chance to compete against people from around the world,” said Dubois.
Despite her successful experience in 2007, Dubois took her training and tasks seriously, practicing during any spare time she had between work and school with help from Doody, who became her trainer. She returned to Kitchener for the OTSC and won first place again, then traveled to Calgary, Alta. for the Canadian Skills in September where she took home another gold medal and qualified for the 2009 WorldSkills.
“I couldn’t stop smiling after I found out I won first place,” said Dubois. “I had more confidence this year, but a bit more pressure than before. A lot of people that would talk to me about it seemed to expect me to win because I’d done it the year before.”
Dubois graduated from Algonquin last spring and has since enrolled in Athabasca University in professional arts. Since her last competition, she’s teamed up with an expert in her field, Susan Gwin from Edmonton, Alta., and trains with her and Doody to prepare for WorldSkills.
Doody knows the tough challenge ahead for Dubois but is optimistic. “[WorldSkills] is a completely different ball game,” she said. “Stacy is training extensively to make sure she is ready [for] whatever challenges come on this next set of tests which take place over five days.”
Dubois seems up for the challenge.
“I spend [over] 15 hours every week working on my skills and turning weak spots into strengths,” said Dubois. “I realize this is a huge opportunity for me and I am so proud to be the Canadian candidate in my category.”