THE NEWFOUNDLAND QUARTERLY :: ONLINE EXCLUSIVES
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Online Exclusive for #431 (c) Where are you? If you have stayed in the province, why did you stay? What factors were involved in your staying? If you have moved do you feel it was by force or by choice? How long have you been gone? Regardless of whether you stayed or left, will your current situation change anytime in the foreseeable future? - Jay McGrath "I stayed here, it almost killed me but I stayed. After my degree I took a job outside of what I studied to pay the bills and tried hard to find a job related to Biology. I'm doing a research job now that doesn't pay great but its enough to keep me in the province. My situation would change if I couldn't afford to stay and that's about the only way it would change. If my current job ran out and I couldn't find something else, then I'd look for work elsewhere. There's nothing really holding me back, what I mean is I don't have any kids that I wouldn't want to uproot and move." - 27, Biology graduate, current researcher "I'm in Alberta and have avoided the layoffs. I still have my job, had I not then I would have considered going home on EI for a while. I recently started seeing someone from home up here so I don't know what the longterm plan is. I've gotten used to it in Alberta but I could probably get used to it back home too." - 26, Payroll Administrator "I'm away now and I don't think I'll be home to live again. I left for the States shortly after college 'cause a job came up. I'm doing fine down here and I won't be back unless something drastically changes." - 25, IT Specialist "I still haven't decided whether or not I'll stay in the province. I'd like to but in the same breath I wouldn't mind seeking adventures off the island either. You know, spread your wings and fly. We'll see what happens but I'm open to either option." - 22, CONA student "I stayed because I got comfortable and set some roots. That's why people settle in the places they do. I had a kid and got a job, then we got engaged. The job isn't what I had envisioned I would be doing but I'm not unhappy about it either." - 34, Client Services Representative "You know the way we look at those who stay now is so different than it was years ago. Years ago the ones who were looked at as the "smart crowd" left and went away and made a life outside where they grew up. There's was a kind of "why would you bother to stay kind of attitude?" The ones who stayed were the ones who had nowhere else to go. Nowadays, the ones who stay are looked at in such a different light cause they have been able to figure out a way to flourish right where they started. They are looked at as the privileged ones." - 38, Social Worker "I can't imagine living anywhere else. So I don't know if anything could ever change my mind about leaving. I know some people will say that if they did not have a job then they'd pack up and go, I've been lucky I guess as that's never been a problem for me but even if it was I'd move back in with my parents before I'd go somewhere else. For me Newfoundland is where my heart is." - 26, MUN student/bartender "I'd give my right arm to come back home. I took a job up here [Edmonton] when I graduated from MUN and this is where the opportunities are for me. But I'd give anything, anything to be home with my family and friends." - 26, Accountant "I'm recently back in the province [from Alberta]. I was one of the ones laid off with the downturn of the economy. I'm doing ok here now but as soon as the chance comes up I'll be back up there. There's more money to be made up there and that's the best option for me right now, make more money. Unless I can make the same kind of money down here then I'll be back up away soon enough." - 44, Construction worker "I don't care what kind of money they makes up there, I'm at home where I'm comfortable. I spent a bit of time in Ontario but it was too fast and impersonal for me, I likes it home, I could leave town after work and be home (home community) before dark and be back in (town) the next morning. The things I can do home, I couldn't do up there. Go out fly fishing, set a few snares, hunt a moose. This is where I belongs." - 28, Construction worker "Student loans forced me to Alberta, plain and simple. When they are paid off I'll be back. Hopefully!" - 25, Teacher, worker in the construction camps "I did a lot of my degree through distance education, so I lived at home and didn't rack up much student debt. I think that's the main reason that financially I was able to stay at home. I did not start out making much money but because I didn't have much of a loan to pay off and I had saved money throughout my degree I could afford to work for a smaller salary. And I'm happy it worked out like that as my grandmother became sick shortly after I started work and passed away soon after, so because I lived here I got to spend a lot of time with her in her last days. That really opened my eyes to the whole situation. I always thought that if I had to have moved away when I graduated I wouldn't have been able to spend all that time with Nan before she passed on. And that's what counts you know." - 29, Policy Analyst "I guess I'm in between places. Half of my year is away and half is at home. I do a six weeks up and six weeks back schedule. I do it because I have three kids and I want them to have all the things I didn't when I was growing up. I hate to leave them for six weeks at a time but I know that this is the best way I can provide for them right now. If the chance came up that I could give them the same lifestyle by working at home then I would. The less time away from them the better." - 39, Welder "Funny I'm answering this email I'm looking at the window at the library at MUN and had just been so frustrated with this paper. I was cursing myself for staying in school all these years, but I realize in answering this email, that's why I am here suffering through this paper. I hope to be able to educate myself to the point where I'm valuable to a workplace here, that's why I'm in school so I can stay. And I'll stay here (in school) until someone hires me. Neat strategy, unfortunately for me it might mean more papers and Sundays in the library. Could be worse!" - 26, MUN student "I was a mother and wife my whole life. I stayed in my community through some pretty tough times. I was here for the war, I was here when we joined Canada, I've seen a lot here in this place. We never had much of an opportunity to go somewhere else like the young crowd have today. Some of us might have went to the war or to Argentia but most of us stuck it out here, through the thick and the thin." - 78, Grandmother and wife "We left when we retired. We made a life there, raised a family, but when we got up in years and finished working we figured we'd head somewhere warmer; seriously that was the big consideration for us, warmer winters. We are considering coming home again soon though, mostly because we have a grandson now and also because we have some health issues. Those are easier to handle if we were at home." - 67 and 69, retired couple "Since high school I've been spending every summer up in Ontario working. I'm in my third year of university now. What I do up there has nothing to do with what I'm doing in school so I won't make a career out of it, but I do like it up here. I haven't made my mind up yet about what I'm doing next year." - 22, MUN business student Back to Online Exclusives main page. |
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