Moving to a big city can bring about big changes. If you are not aware of what Calgary has to offer you could feel lost among the crowd. My experience moving to Calgary for post secondary education has been a tough and rocky road. I am a single mother of one child and the majority of my family is seven hours away. Coming from my First Nations community in Northern Alberta, family connections are very important to me. Which I'm sure can be said about many you reading this right now. I remember family bar-b-ques and gatherings just for the sake of getting together. Playing cards or dice and so forth with my aunties and cousins. My strong sense of community was now hours away and I needed to find my place here in the city. Where could I go? Who could I talk to? I had no idea where to start. My first year of school was the longest 8 months of my life and filled with so much self-doubt. Then something changed, I found an agency who actually cared about helping their clients.

I was facing eviction my summer job was an hour away from my home and I was making just enough to pay for my rent and only my rent. So facing an eviction notice, I searched the phone book for someone to call and see what my options were. Call after call, referral after referral, I finally found someone who could see me that day. I felt so relieved to have stumbled across the Aboriginal Resource Centre. They were able to help me so that I would not be evicted and I was able to look at their job postings in hope of finding better summer employment. I was able to obtain better summer employment and found the Horizon Youth Program. Since May of 2004 my relationship with the resource centre has grown to the point were I volunteer on a weekly basis with them. In my first year, if it was not for my parents, I would not have succeeded in school and as a mother. As a parent, I want the best for my son and when I could not provide the best, I felt like I had failed him. Agencies such as ARC are designed to provide a helping hand not a pointing finger.

There are times when your situation is beyond your control and you are no longer the pilot but rather the passenger in this journey. Even as passengers we have choices "do I get off the flight or stay the course"? That is something you have to answer for yourself, for me I had to stay the course till I became the pilot again. When we move to a big city we must be prepared for big changes. If you are a first time mover the "Moving to Calgary" webpage is designed to help you in all capacities from health to education and in between. If you have lived in Calgary before, the page can help you as well with additional services like 211 and 311 knowing the difference can save you some frustration.

When you move to a big city from your First Nation community it can produce some feelings of culture shock. Finding an Aboriginal community in a big city can be frustrating and take some time. If you are not from the Calgary area like I was you essentially do not know anyone. So that kind of stress can hinder your move. This webpage is designed to give you the knowledge needed to thrive not just survive your move to the big city of Calgary. There are times when we question our choices so just remember that this webpage is both useful and resourceful. No matter what your situation is, check out the various links for future reference to those who need the services. My son and I are going into our third year here in Calgary and it's starting to really feel like home.

Anonymous