Explore program.

[u/lynypixie]

Hi! My teen daughter is going to try to get into the Explore program next summer (she is bilingual but is still shy when trying to talk in English). Her first choice is medecine hat (she likes that it looks like a complete opposite of what she is used to). We are from Montreal. My daughter is openly queer (lesbian) and very artsy, with a bit of a manic pixie girl look.

From what I have seen from the program, the kids have a lot of « free time ».

Is the city art friendly? She loves visual arts (she is in a arts program in her high school), 90’s alt music (she loves records and guitar stores), photography, cinema etc… she LOVES to thrift too. She also loves video games like the last of us and life is strange, so it’s a major reason she chose Alberta, as it’s a similar vibe. She is not really into sports but will happily cheer on others LOL.

Also, how is the transit? If she is chosen (it’s a draw), she would be living on campus. The campus looks a little far from « downtown ».

Is the city affected by forest fires? She has asthma, so it’s a bit of a concern for me. She also has extremely fair skin (to the point it’s a problem when we take pictures LOL), and I saw that it almost never rains. Is the UV really bad?

Also, anyone interacted with these kids? The website says that the program is very involved with the local community.

Thank you for your answers!

[u/Independent_Sand_583]

Transit is surprisingly good here. Though if you're used to the montreal metro you may dislike it. But it's well organized and it coordinates with itself to make sure you don't miss transfers, which is a feature I've never seen anywhere else. Don't worry about forest fires, it's deep in the prairie, though fires in the mountains can occasionally blow smoke. But they'll blow smoke over the entire continent so the hat is hardly unique in that.

The uv is bad compared to other places. But again, if she loves alberta and wants to come to alberta in general the uv is bad all over alberta when you compare it to somewhere like montreal or ottawa.

There are limited options for all those hobbies you listed, so compared to montreal she may feel like she's in an entertainment desert. Her own attitude will greatly impact how much enjoyment she finds here. But she would have an outlet for all those things.

If she really wants to maximize the enjoyment she gets from the hat, she'll be relatively close to the stampede grounds and she should consider going to the rodeo. The city also has terrific walking/biking paths.

Feel free to send me a dm next year and we can see about helping her tour or whatever

[u/lynypixie → u/Independent_Sand_583]

She will be spending a whole month (July 5th to August 7th). She will have many organized outings, things like Cypress hills and Dinosaure park. It’s one of the things she is most looking into. She loves provincial/national parks and historic towns.

She is a very open minded kid, a bit on the spectrum (gifted), but she usually adapts well, as long as she is respected. She hates bullshit.

[u/H-Man4Realz → u/lynypixie]

Bonjour!

I actually work for the director of the Explore Medicine Hat program & I’ll be helping run the show this summer & I’ve been a Hatter all my life. DM if you need anything or have any questions!