When I graduated high school, I had no idea what I wanted to spend the next four years studying, let alone what I wanted to do with my life. So, I decided to take a gap year. My original plan was to continue working at my job, but that was until my friend found an opportunity to work at a ski resort in British Columbia. I mean, I don’t know about you, but that sounded really cool to 17-year-old me, so I immediately started applying for jobs at this resort. I remember being so genuinely shocked when I was offered the job. I think the shock had a lot to do with the fact that I was actually going to move to BC and that it wasn’t just an idea anymore. Looking back on this now, it honestly seems so crazy to me and I can’t believe I went through with it. I had so many experiences while I was out there, both good and bad, that have made me into the person that I am today.
Becoming Extremely Independent
This one may seem obvious because people always gain independence when they leave home for the first time. But the thing is, a lot of people leave home to go to university or for schooling, and with this comes a built-in support system of people who are there for you and want you to succeed. Except I didn’t leave home for university so I didn’t have the support system or the same resources. The only support system that I had with me was the friend I moved with. So there I was, freshly 18, living on a mountain in BC with the nearest town being an hour away and only knowing one person. To say I was scared would be a complete understatement, but it ended up being okay. I quickly made friends, learned how to cook for myself, how to enjoy my own company and be okay with relying on myself.
Finding Roommates on Facebook Marketplace isn’t a Good Idea
This makes it sound like my roommates turned out to be psycho killers or something, but they weren’t. They were overall nice people, they just weren’t great at being roommates. The house was always a disaster, to the point where I didn’t like leaving my room because it was the only clean place in the house. Although the whole house was bad, the kitchen was the worst. The counters were always sticky, the sink was constantly overflowing with dishes, but it’s the oven that makes me mad to this day. The inside of the oven was completely covered in burnt food so every time someone used it, the smoke alarm would go off. The last time I used the oven the smoke alarm went off three times so, after that, I started planning my meals around things that didn’t need to go in the oven. Because of this, when I came to university, I made sure that I wouldn’t go through this situation again and found roommates that I was actually friends with.
Homesickness is Okay
I can’t even tell you the number of times that I called my parents during these six months. I missed my family with all my heart while I was living in BC and not being able to see them whenever I wanted was something I struggled with, especially when Christmas rolled around. Imagine trudging through knee-deep snow on your way to work while your family is over 4,000 kilometres away in Ontario celebrating Christmas. This was definitely one of the hardest and most homesick moments I felt while being in BC. But the way that I worked through my homesickness was by just embracing it. So, every time I missed my family, I would just call them to chat. This helped me feel better and I know that it made them feel better too.
Fear of the Dentist
This one seems silly, but it’s one of the biggest things that came out of this experience. The situation traumatized me at the time but now, every time I think about the story, I laugh. Basically, I was skiing to work in a snowstorm when I lost my balance and fell, and on the way down, I punched myself in the face with my ski pole and broke my tooth. Naturally, I had to get an emergency dentist appointment and drive the hour into town, only for the dentist to give me the ugliest tooth ever to exist and somehow manage to cause me more pain in the process. I genuinely hated this tooth and cried every time I saw it, but luckily for me, it ended up breaking within a week. Unluckily for me, that meant that I had to go back and get it fixed again. The new tooth thankfully doesn’t stand out as much and has lasted me a few years. Unfortunately, I chipped it again recently. However, I’m not rushing to the dentist to get it fixed this time because I’m honestly terrified.
Living is Expensive
Again, this seems obvious, but wow did it ever shock me at the time. It probably didn’t help that I chose to move to BC since it’s one of the most expensive provinces to live in Canada. It was definitely a wake-up call for me though, as I’ve always had my parents there to support me when I needed help. But this time, I didn’t want to ask for help since I was trying to prove that I could take care of myself. It started out well because I was making enough money that I could cover rent, groceries and gas, while still having some money for fun. But, when my job started cutting my hours and I was working maybe 20 hours a week, that’s when things got hard and I had to learn how to start budgeting better. Even now, I try to use those budgeting skills that I learned when I realize that I’m spending too much money on things that I want, rather than things that I need.
Even though moving to British Columbia wasn’t necessarily the positive experience that I’d hoped it was going to be, I don’t regret it at all; I learned so many things that I still use in my everyday life. Plus, how on Earth could I regret living in a place with such a beautiful view? If I had the opportunity to, I think I would move back, but I would plan things out better and not make the same mistakes that I did the first time around.