Unable to find nearby housing, this mature student walked 32 km every day for school
CBC
Adrian Mendez cannot forget the moment in October 2019 when he was so tired from walking, he could only weep.
At that moment, Mendez was walking along the middle of Brackley Point Road, on his route from his cottage near Brackley Beach to Holland College in Charlottetown. Again.
Two months earlier, Mendez had arrived with his daughters from Mexico. At 58, he had always regretted not finishing university, so he came to the Island to study computer networking technology.
"It's a better future for me, but also for my children," he said.
He stayed in a hotel in Charlottetown while looking for an apartment near the college. He contacted Immigrant and Refugee Services Association P.E.I. to get help registering his children for school. They said he needed an address.
By this point, Mendez had come face to face with the housing crunch on the Island that is more than familiar to many tenants.
Unable to find a rental in Charlottetown he could afford, he saw an ad about a cottage near Brackley Beach. New to the Island, he didn't know how far from town it was. But the pictures looked nice.
The deadline for registering for school was near. He moved into the cottage in early September.
While looking for a car, Mendez traveled to Charlottetown by cab a few times. He couldn't afford it, so on his first day at Holland College, he woke around 4 a.m. and started walking at 5.
He arrived at Holland College at exactly 9:02 a.m. It was a Monday and his first class was project management. The instructor had marked him absent because he was two minutes late. The instructor later changed it.
That night Mendez walked home. The next day, he did it all again. And the next. And the next.
"I never imagined I had to do it for so many days."
According to Google Maps, Mendez walked a total of about 32 kilometres most days in September and October. Besides the walking and classes, he did the shopping and took care of his school-age daughters. His wife remains in Mexico, but has visited the family since the move.
Those long daily walks finally culminated in Mendez weeping that day in October.
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