I Lost my Oppertunity to go to University this Year because of the Strike.

While I support the workers' right to protest for better pay and to keep their workers benefits, I must admit that I've been personally affected beyond superficial wants for the holidays.

Two days before the strike, I went in to get my Alberta ID card, and without it, I am unable to get a student loan in time for my January start date at MRU. I called everyone from the Registry to the university and even attempted to contact Canada Post, but I was unable to do anything on my end to get around not having an ID.

I will have to wait until next September now to start, and furthermore this puts me at both a financial loss from the application fee and distress because I'm moving into the city with no job to support myself as I had intended on relying on my student loan before finding a part time job in the city while I attended full time.

The school and the student loan office are unwilling to make any acceptions for my situation, and I'm just heartbroken. Going to school was a goal I had made for myself while in hospital last January, and I got really close to being able to attend, and it's entirely out of my hands at this point. I did everything I could to make it happen.

I'm doing my best to be proactive, but with everything else going on outside of this, I feel defeated.

~~~

Edit: I've noticed a lot of people using this thread to debate. A lot of people on both ends have been negatively affected by the strike. I ask if you can't be kind to at least be constructive or informative with your posts. It is the holidays, and a lot of people are struggling right now. I think we could all use some compassion and understanding.

I feel silly and selfish for trying to take the time and space to vent here, and I realize now this wasn't the best place to do so. What I am going through isn't as serious or life damaging as what some others are who have been affected by the strike.

It has just been a trying stressful time filled with a lot of uncertainty and insecurity for whether or not I'll be able to afford my move now that everything aside from my student loan is finalized. It's been a trying year due to mental and physical health, but I was really hopeful that going to school was going to be the positive change I needed. In retrospect, I do feel like I was underprepared, but the effort I have taken this year in getting accepted to school required a lot of consistent effort which gave me hope for the future I needed while I was in recovery.

I probably won't get to go this January, but that's fine. I'll find work in the city and push myself to go the following semester. I already have an interview lined up, and I'm sure there will be many more around the corner.

I hope if anyone's dealing with something similar to what I am, they at least know that they're not the only one going through it, and to the best they can on their end for themselves. There's only so much you can do, and at some point, it's out of your hands, so please be kind to yourself.

Sorry for creating such a bother and Happy Holidays.

Update December 16th:

I spoke with MRU today to discuss whether they’ve made any decisions regarding students affected by the Canada Post strike and potential extensions on student loans.

From what I understand, Canada Post workers are being forced back to work and will resume delivering mail, but there will likely be significant backlogs. Additionally, the student loan office will be overwhelmed with cases similar to mine.

MRU informed me that they are currently taking a “wait and see” approach. They haven’t yet held a meeting to decide whether exceptions will be made for students impacted by this issue, but I was told they would likely handle it on a case-by-case basis.

I was able to get the email address for the person in charge of the registrar's office at MRU and will be reaching out to them directly to seek a clearer and more definitive stance on this matter.

I also spoke with the school about extending the deadline for my tuition downpayment, which was due yesterday. My concern is that if I make the $425 payment now and my student loan doesn’t come through by the January 15th deadline, I could potentially lose that money. This sum isn’t insignificant, and I’ve asked if it would be refundable in the event the loan isn’t processed in time and no extensions are granted for students affected by the strike.

So far, there’s been a lot of uncertainty and a lack of clear communication from the school. Despite multiple inquiries in November and December, I was previously told that no exceptions could be made. This is the first time I’ve received any potentially positive information on the matter.

From what I’ve gathered, this isn’t an isolated case at MRU this semester, and I can only imagine how many students nationwide are facing similar challenges.

Update December 18th:

I've been in contact with both the MLA for my area and the Student Aid with the Federal Loans Department.

The MLA office and the person I spoke with Donna was super sweet and has made a number of calls on my behalf, but is coming up with the same answers I've been getting which is there is nothing to be done about it. She's waiting on one more contact that may be able to pull through, but she's worried there is nothing to be done about it.

The Student Aid in the Federal Loans Department gave me an email to reach out to, but also informed me that while they were helping students before like myself who had called during the strike, that even those they were giving help to they have revoked that help since the Postal Strike is now over. Even though I had called November and that they were able to force open my account, on my end, nothing had changed, and I wasn't able to get past the verification with my Alberta.ca account. Regardless of that, they have been told that they will not help students like that anymore now that the strike is over. However, they gave me an email to try advocating my case, too. I have sent off the email and am waiting to hear back.

I called the school Monday this week and was able to get an extension on paying my tuition downpayment and have until Friday to do so. I'm nervous about making said downpayment without knowing if I will have my student loan or any kind of financial assistance in time for my February 's rent. I have January's rent covered, but while still waiting to hear back on work and the student loan, I'm in a pickle for Febuary. I dont even know if I'll have enough groceries for January at this rate, but that's another issue entirely.

Thank you to everyone who has reached out. I feel like unless something changes for the positive, this will be my last update.Lets hope for a holiday miracle either with a job opportunity pulling through or somehow being able to immediately get a student loan.

These last three months since being left by my ex and needing to find a roommate and move out while balancing my health issues, looking for work, and pushing for school have been exhausting. The postal strike may have ended, but I fear it was too late for me to be able to get my ID in time for school. At least I'll be more prepared for next September's semester start date. That is if I'm able to manage to find a way to pay rent in Febuary. I'm going to direct all my energy into continuing to apply to work as I'm almost certain at this point that I'm not going to school for January.

Update December 19th:

With the effort of my local MLA's office who networked on my behalf, they were able to speak to the Deputey Director for the Student Aid Department of Alberta. They forcefully bypassed the verification for my Alberta.ca account, giving me time to apply to my student loan. After applying for my student loan I was contacted by a representative from Client Resolution and he gave me further details about the loan and the processes I'll need to complete after they verify my Sin Number information.

The last steps will be to sign my MFSA, bith federal and provincal, before taking on the biggest loan of my life thus far. So long as my loan gets approved, which there shouldn't be further reason it that it should not I'll be in school come January.

It was thanks to the kindness of several people from ym local MLA office, the help from those within the student financial aid office of Alberta, and those kindly outreaching from this community that suggest I get in contact with my local MLA that I'll hopefully get to start school this January unless something else comes up. Fingers crossed on the student loan. Thank you to everyone who's been kind and encouraging. The positivety far outweighed the negative comments and pushed me to keep trying in places I had never considered.