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opportunity to grow our diversity

LETTER: RDC needs degrees

Apr 1, 2021 | 1:54 PM

When I graduated high school in 2004, I had options. I could go virtually anywhere, and take almost any program I wanted to. And I chose Red Deer College.

I chose Red Deer College because I grew up in a small town, and wasn’t comfortable with big cities. Because I was close to my family, and didn’t want to leave them. Because I had a part-time job that paid well, and because I was able to live at home to save money. I chose Red Deer College because I was able to take the first few years of my degree close to home without putting more stress on me and my family, and because I knew the programs were recognized in other institutions, and I could move my education with me.

I stayed at Red Deer College for two full years, working towards a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, like many of my classmates. Many of us were heavily involved in the college and extracurricular activities. At the time, I was even considering a run for student council executive because I thought it would be a great way to build my own skills and give back to the community. But, in the end, I opted to leave Red Deer.

I left Red Deer College because even though I could have stayed, could have run and likely been successful in student government, there was no path forward for me with my education at RDC. If I wanted to complete my degree, I had to go elsewhere. I was lucky, as I had the resources and good fortune that I had, but I’m far from the norm.

Most other students did the same thing. A few simply quit after their first two years, because they had to make a choice between their established lives in Red Deer, trying to figure out which parts of their lives could be sacrificed for their education. The financial or familial realities for many people simply could not allow for the move. And so their education ended, incomplete.

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Those of us that did move away, well, the big cities’ lights can be awfully attractive, and there has always been a more diverse range of opportunities in larger centres. Sure, smaller centres like Red Deer can offer job opportunities with less competition, but the range of diversity in those jobs is often limited, as is the ability for lateral movement in the job market. Part of the reason there is less competition is because rather than having home-grown talent, Red Deer is constantly trying to pull people back to it who have gained education elsewhere. Outside of the trades, almost no one can say they earned their education locally, despite the need for educated individuals in our city.

Additionally, when a student moves to the city, they aren’t insulated: they’re making friends, connections, and contacts, and enjoying the opportunities of city. Sometimes we meet our best friend, or the love of our life, and we make our lives elsewhere. And there’s nothing wrong with that. We all deserve the opportunity to make those kinds of connections. My best friends are all people that I met while I was away at university, and I love and miss them so much.

But wouldn’t it be great if we could offer the opportunity to stay locally? If we could build a city with our own university, granting our own degrees, and attracting people to us for earning their education? Where we can create a place where our talent has strong roots? This is the first step down a path to greater things for our college and our community.

RDC needs degrees because it’s an opportunity to grow our diversity from our already-diverse population, and provide critical access to advanced education to populations who already struggle with finances. RDC needs degrees to help us thrive as a community, and to eliminate some of the long-standing stigmas associated with our city by changing the population dynamics. RDC needs degrees because our community deserves the stability it would bring to our families, our businesses, and our economy.

What would RDC granting degrees mean to me? It would mean that I see the kind of progress in my community that tells me we’re moving in the right direction to help young people feel at home in Red Deer.

Let folks in power know that RDC needs degrees because of what it has meant to you, and let them know that how they respond will be remembered.

Jamie Smith

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EDITOR’S NOTE: The views expressed above are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of rdnewsNOW or the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group. Column suggestions and letters to the editor can be sent to news@rdnewsNOW.com.