Hello, my name is Braelen Bacon, I am currently going into my third year in the Bachelor of Commerce program, majoring in Management at the University of Saskatchewan.
I grew up in a family of 6, with my parents and 3 brothers. We were raised on the same farm my dad grew up on, in the same home. Our farm includes cows, dogs, and my two horses Velvet and Treasure. Our farm is located in the RM of Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan and is approximately 2,500 acres, which happens to only be 6km away from the mill I work at during the summer.
In my spare time, I enjoy doing a variety of activities which usually includes the outdoors. Some of my favorite activities are quadding with family and friends, working with my horses, fishing, biking, hunting, and camping! During the winter, you will not catch me outside as often. However, some of the activities I do enjoy in the winter are sledding, ice fishing or going for a sleigh ride.
As said before, I grew up on a farm and have been surrounded by the forest industry my whole life. My parents and brother have all worked in the industry before me. I grew up watching logging on my land. Driving the hills of our farm, I’ve watched areas be cut, the logs hauled away and over time grow back up.
I was very excited when I was offered my first summer student position at Tolko Meadow Lake, for summer of 2021 as a Production Student. I was fortunate enough to be offered two more summer student position for summer 2022 and this summer of 2023.
During my first summer I worked on the rip line which included painting, wrapping and strapping bundles to be ready for shipment. As well as doing the typical summer student jobs, like painting doors around the mill and sweeping.
In the summer of 2022, I was offered the position of Quality Control Student. This job included taking part in a trial to help Screening Optimization by trying different angles and roll speeds of the primary screens. I took part in helping collect the samples then use the sieve machine to analyze the data. My job of quality control student also included labelling the tank farm and blending area of the mill for easier identification of pipes and valves.
This summer I was offered the position of Manufacturing Student. This position is split between the Production department and the Technical department. In the mornings I work for Production, my task includes sorting/filing check sheets from the previous day shift, helping roll out the new pay for skills program, and creating SOP’s (Safe Operation Procedure) and SWP’s (Safe Work Procedure). In the afternoons I work for the Technical Department continuing to label the blending area of the mill, creating SOP’s, and helping with daily testing or trials.
Each summer I have experienced different areas of the mill learning new skills and expanding my knowledge. I have used the skills and experiences from my previous summers to help me with projects and assignments and being able to interpret those skills in my education and everyday life.
I am grateful for the opportunity Tolko has given me to be a summer student in the industry for 3 summers in a row now. I would also like to thank FPAC for this opportunity, I am pumped to share my knowledge that I have learned and all the experiences I have working and growing up around the forest industry.
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