Friendships on the Coast

The Coast itself consists of many different communities, yet we connect and correlate as one. Friendships form and we find ourselves living so close, yet so far from each other. For a while, I had never left my small village, but when I did, I seemed to find that I had an abundance of friends.

The most hassling part of these friendships would definitely be the distances that we must overcome to meet, but I find many ways of staying in contact. From social media to local hockey tournaments, there are always ways we can get through to each other.

“Many long-distance friendships are well-equipped to weather both changes and challenges, making them flexible, not fragile.” -Said by Jessica Thorn Smith of the University of Tennessee, conducted an experiment related to the woman’s view of long distance friendships.  What Jessica meant by saying this was that long distance friendships can be strong and aren’t friendships that might break at any moment because of an obstacle that’s been thrown towards it. Living in these friendly, close-knitted and distant communities has made us stronger. Overall, even though being at distance is supposed to make us stronger, everything is better when reunited.

I think that what Jessica has said is very true to a lot of people, but not for me. For me the only time I can create a strong friendship along the Coast is if they travel to Long Point for tournaments or other activities because I don’t get to travel a lot and I have never been farther than Old Fort. So from my point of view and current life style, it is very difficult to make friends unless they’re less than 1 hour away or go to my school.

With both of my parents constantly working we don’t really have the time to go out on skidoo and go for ride along the ‘‘route blanche’’. The only time I can really get out and leave my village is when we go to my grandparents’ house and we go fishing or for rides or if my friend invite me to go to the cabin for the day but that is basically it. Although for me it is difficult I have managed to create some strong bonds with some friends along the Coast and I hope to one day make more.

Taya Purcell, secondary 2, English Class, École Mgr Scheffer
and Jaylyn Fequet, secondary 1, École St Augustine School