THUNDER BAY -- Michaela Bottle has been to the city before but since she moved to Thunder Bay to start college this week, she's already been here for the longest stretch of her life.
The crowds sometimes bother the 19-year-old Early Childhood Educator student from Mishkeegogamang First Nation. Thunder Bay's population is 100 times the size of the community where she was raised. She's concentrating on the positive aspects of having so many people around, filling her time playing baseball, soccer and broomball. When there's no game on, she's going shopping.
"My time kind of slips by, I guess," Bottle said. "I'm having too much fun out here."
The transition from living in First Nations to the relative bustle of city life can be more difficult for some students. That's why eight education and agency partners started throwing Maadaadizi in the first week of school outside of the Boys and Girls Club to help acclimatize post-secondary students to their new surroundings.
Maadaazdizi is the Anishinaabek term meaning "he or she begins a journey" and organizers wanted to make sure supports like how to see a doctor or how to use public transit can help the journey run smoothly.
"We have a lot of students who come from remote or rural First Nations communities," said Maadaadizi chair, Darby Starratt, adding 1,000 post-secondary students in Thunder Bay identify as Aboriginal.
"It's quite an adjustment coming to the city so it's great to have everybody come out and support them and show them what there is in Thunder Bay for them to access and that there's lots of friendly people here."
Nishnawbe-Aski Nation Deputy Grand Chief Terry Waboose spoke among dignitaries from Thunder Bay City Council, Lakehead University, Confederation College and Ontario Regional Chief Isadore Day. Waboose spoke of the importance of staying tied to the cultural roots of education while pursuing higher learning.
"While you go through the education process that's going to be available to you here in Thunder Bay, I want you to also remember, we also have a traditional form of education and that's the teachings that our elders -- the teachings that our parents -- have taught us about the land, about our treaties, about the importance of respecting and honouring one another," he said.
"I urge you to do that becuase it's just as important as the education you're going to receive this year."
