My Post Graduation Work Permit application has been submitted thanks to everyone's help!! I graduated on June 19th, and would endlessly appreciate some additional support with living expenses and building up savings for after I lose access to my university's healthcare plan. 

 My Journey

In November 2020, after spending 3 semesters in the Interdisciplinary Documentary program at Columbia College Chicago, I realized that I couldn't continue with my life in America. I had loved living in a city, getting to spread my wings a bit more, studying something I was very passionate about, and being able to introduce myself to people as "O, just like the letter, they/them or he/him pronouns," instead of just being the Stecinas' oldest kid. But as my love of Canadian TV grew, so did my fear about the state of queer and trans rights in the United States, and I knew that a better future must be out there for me up north. I began researching universities in Canada where I could continue to grow my passion for media and find a place where I truly belonged. My search led me to Toronto Metropolitan University (at that time it was still Ryerson University) because of its hands-on opportunities and the wide array of RTA grads that became fixtures of Canadian media.

When I arrived in Toronto in October 2021, I had already started my courses online and a group chat I had started for fellow applicants had become a highly active forum for people in my class cohort (today it has over 300 members and is being transitioned into an alumni networking server). I had only recently recovered from a gender-affirming hysterectomy, and was moving downtown having never set foot in Canada before.

And now, I'm about to graduate. I've submitted my last assignment, completed my thesis project, and my parents have their flights booked to come to my convocation ceremony in June.

In the nearly 4 years I've been here, so many amazing things have happened in my life. At the end of my first year I received the TARA Award (RTA's Oscars, basically) for Best First Year Audio Project for my podcast, "Break Your Game", and I rounded out my university career with another TARA, this time Best Podcast for my thesis project "Soundscapes of Self". I met my incredible nesting partner Tatania, and she introduced me to polyamory (and my two other wonderful partners, Mika and Sabrina!) and we've been living together for nearly 2 years. I've worked on many incredible projects, serving as a podcast editor for Power In Heels (my favourite episode features figure skater Tessa Virtue!!), creating my own radio show about classical music, leading production sound for a project recently featured at the TIFF Next Wave Young Creator's Showcase, and most recently getting accepted for an Undergraduate Research Opportunity over the summer.

What's Next...

I have felt so very fortunate to be able to live and study in Toronto, and I am determined to do whatever it takes to stay out here and continue building my lifeout here. With the completion of my Bachelors Degree comes the next step in my immigration process, a post-graduation work permit. Having this will allow me to work full time and finally accept all of the projects and opportunities that I want to. On a Study Permit you're only allowed to work 24 hours a week off-campus, and there are very few on-campus opportunities for international students. International tuition is also twice as much!!!

While I will be starting up a very exciting on-campus paid Research Assistant position in May, there are a lot of costs for various aspects of the PGWP process that will arise before I'm able to start getting paid for that work. My nesting partner Tatania has been incredibly supportive of me at the times when I've been unable to work, but with high rent prices in Toronto and the expenses of moving last August when neither of us were working, we have had to eat away at a lot of our savings. I have an incredible support system with my polycule, but all of us are in the early stages of our careers and are living quite modestly.

As much as I value the wonderful people and communities that I grew up with in the US, it does not feel safe for me to return there as a transgender and autistic person. I am at a point in my medical transition where my gender ambiguity (and the X gender marker on my license) could put me in danger, both on an institutional and individual level. I am incredibly grateful to my family for the sacrifices they have made to get me out here to Canada, and the continual sacrifice they make in being away from me as I build my life out here.

My career is looking very promising, but there have been many opportunities that I've had to turn down or that I am ineligible for because of the terms of my study permit and my status as a non-citizen. It is also an unfortunate reality of the media industry that a lot of my work as an emerging professional will be unpaid passion projects. I really love what I do, but I also have to pay my bills and feed myself.

What You Can Do To Help
I'm extending my hand out to you all, my friends and loved ones, to help me through a particularly financially straining era of my life. Once I graduate, I will lose access to some of the software and equipment that is provided by my university (although my research position has extended my access to certain things until August!) and I will need to begin paying off my student loans and building my own collection of equipment and software.

Below, you'll see an itemized list of the expenses associated with graduating university and applying for my PGWP. I appreciate any amount you can give to help cover these costs, and any additional funds will go towards my student loans and other expenses for my career. I have been navigating this process largely on my own, with some guidance from International Student Services at my university, and would also appreciate the funds to be able to consult a professional about my immigration plans. I will be employed from May until August and will be actively seeking out additional roles in the meantime (and based on the fact that multiple directors I've worked with have asked me to help with other projects, I think I will be quite busy!) but I could really use some help while I wait for more paid opportunities to become available.

My Itemized Immigration Expenses
PGWP Application Fee: $155 CAD ($112 USD)
Open Work Permit Fee: $100 CAD ($73 USD)
English Exam: $330 CAD ($239 USD)
(yes, I am aware that it is silly that I needed to take an English exam, but since2024 all PGWP applicants need to take the exam and score above a certain level in English or French. I've already taken and passed the exam.)
Convocation Fee: $55 CAD ($40 USD)
University Document Fees: $40 CAD ($29 USD)

Total: $680 CAD ($493 USD)

In the US (and honestly across the world), the transgender community has been placed under increasing scrutiny. I experienced this firsthand when there was an effort to have me removed from the women's swim team at my highschool (despite the fact that, at that time, I had only begun to socially transition and had not started hormones or had any gender affirming surgery). Thankfully, I had allies within the administration. If you are seeking a way to be a tangible ally to the trans community, this is a great place to start. A lot of my work revolves around creating opportunities for empathetic curiosity about gender diversity (and neurodiversity!) and it has always been a goal of mine to live proudly and pave the way for those who come after me. I fought for the rights of queer and trans people in the US and I continue to fight those battles in Canada, where I have less fear for my safety and have found many others like me.

Please, only donate to this campaign if you have the means to do so. Life is hard for a lot of us right now, and I am certainly not the only person out there who could benefit from some financial help. I have felt so very loved in this life, and that love is worth more than any amount of money. Know that if you do contribute, you're helping support a life of advocacy, passion, and freedom, and I am exceptionally grateful for anything that is given to me.

Thanks for reading, if you want to see some of the stuff I've been working on lately, visit my website, ostecina.com