In praise of leaving home

By Cara Gordon, Carleton University, Journalism and Humanities

Dek: I moved from Vancouver to Ottawa sight unseen. If it’s financially viable, don’t discredit the benefits of a cross-country academic experience.

At the height of the pandemic, I accepted an offer to a university 3,500 kilometres away from home, in the nation’s capital, which I had never even visited before. The closest I got to a campus tour was scrolling the university website. (The fish-eye lens does wonders to make residence rooms look spacious.)

I had essentially decided on my post-secondary path by grade eleven, when a Carleton University recruiter visited my high school in Vancouver. Despite her leading with the killer line, “We have five kilometres of heated underground tunnels,” by the end of the presentation— plus some research on a niche degree stream and varsity athletics program only offered at Carleton—16-year-old me had her heart set on a plan for the next half decade.

It seems to me there are three types of university journeys, as far as moving goes—those who stay close to home, those who move far away but continue to come home, and those who move permanently. I know many people for whom university represented an irrevocable change in their relationship with their hometown: an opportunity to build a new life or even a new self. But moving away for university doesn’t have to be as final as that. I consider myself the second category—I may have an apartment, friends and routines in Ottawa, but where I grew up remains my home base. I vividly recall arriving in Ottawa in September of my first year. As Air Canada flight 342 banked over the Gatineau Hills, I peered down at the Camp Fortune ski area. Its comparatively tiny slopes seemed mockingly emblematic of the majestic mountains I’d taken for granted in B.C. . Even though Ottawa was humid and sticky that day, I felt like I’d been dunked in cold water. –convinced I’d made a huge mistake by coming here, I seriously debated catching the first available plane home.

Of course I didn’t, and I’m still studying here three years later. It’s gotten easier to be away from home for months at a time, butI miss the rain and the ocean. I often catch myself looking at the northern horizon and expecting the familiar blue bulk of the North Shore mountains that framed my world growing up, instead of the Gatineau Hills’ low silhouette. Since my entire family lives in B.C., and I’m the only grandchild studying out-of-province, I miss out on family events such as birthdays and Thanksgiving.

But by uprooting my life eight months of the year and sacrificing family time and familiarity, I’ve gained experiences that sixteen-year-old me didn’t expect. The academic and athletic opportunities I’ve had are unavailable closer to home. I’ve acquired a wider perspective on national issues living in the capital. And while being away from home has made me appreciate Vancouver more, it’s also made me cherish my independence—there’s nothing like enforced self-reliance to teach self-assurance. That said, I have a close network of friends and teammates here who are even more important to me because of my distance from family and friends back home.

While statistics show that inter-provincial mobility of Canadian university students has been slowly increasing over the past several decades, the proportion remains low on average. According to the most recent (pre-pandemic) numbers from Statistics Canada, just under five per cent of students at Ontario universities are from a different province, while that population is approximately 12 per cent of B.C. students and eight per cent nationally.. Atlantic universities are the outlier here, with Nova Scotia reporting 35 per cent out-of-province students and PEI and New Brunswick nearly tied for second at 23 per cent. However, this higher mobility may be partially representative of student movement between Atlantic provinces.

However, for prospective students in many parts of Canada, especially rural regions and the Territories, moving far from home is the only option for a university education. Amongst my high school grad class, about a quarter of us left B.C. for university. Although institutions charge only slightly higher tuition for out-of-province students (with the exception of Quebec), when you add travel and living expenses, the experience can quickly become pricey . However, scholarship and bursary programs sometimes consider this added strain when calculating financial need, meaning that an out-of-province education could end costing the same as one closer to home.

When I arrived in Ottawa, I was surprised by how few out-of-province students I shared classes with—but soon got used to the shocked expressions when people find out I’m from B.C. “What are you doing here?” they ask, incredulously.

What am I doing here? I’m learning skills that I will take home with me. I’m gaining a wider perspective on our country and building independence. And I’m learning to appreciate the many different paths that have brought me here and will hopefully eventually bring me home, with broadened horizons and rich friendships.