As part of the Guardian’s Against the tide series, readers aged 18 to 30 share what they love about living in their coastal town, the challenges and why they often choose to leave
Megan, a 24-year-old from the Isle of Wight, is very familiar with saying goodbye. She decided university wasn’t for her and remembers how, one by one, she waved off her friends who left the island to study. Many never came back.
“I was 18, working in a pub, and I thought, ‘what am I going to do next?’” she says.
Megan secured an apprenticeship and now works for an arts organisation on the island, but says her situation is unusual among her friendship group.
“I’m definitely an anomaly in that I have a job that I am really passionate about and I really want to be doing,” she says. “Some of my friends here work in very seasonal, part-time employment, centred around hospitality and tourism. They work loads over the summer, but then over the winter they’re on fewer hours and a very low income and are still living at home.”
