College student wanting to move to STX

Danny, scroll down & read the thread titled "stx today, comments" and also the many other threads relating to life in the VI. Best of luck.

I go to ASU and I'm planning on moving down there very soon as well. Where do you go? I'm just trying to meet some people who live down there or are moving down there soon so I know some people before I get there. I'm super excited to make the move I know it will be a huge change but that is exactly what I'm looking for. Good luck with your move.

Hi Danny
You should get some real good advice here. The first thing you have to know is that LIFE can be VERY DIFFERENT in the Virgin Islands. So if you are expecting life to be the same as back home, (except for the beautiful beaches and warm ocean) you will not be happy.

You have a real advantage if you can get a job with Hovensa Oil (formerly Hess Oil). It is the biggest employer on St Croix and pays better than almost everyone else. That is important because it is very expensive to live here. I know a bunch of people who would like to meet your uncle.

Read everything you can about life on St Croix and then make a long (non-tourist) visit here. It's what is called on this board a PMV or PRE-MOVE-VISIT.

goodluck

awesome! I've been lookin' around and just seeing what people have to say. Sundevil, I go to a small school in southeast Virginia called Christopher Newport University, its about 20 minutes away from William and Mary. Yeah i know, it would be nice to meet some people just to kind of get connected, thats another reason why I am on this site. Ms. Information I appreciate the advice, my uncle told me that he could get me down there and set up, and told me that I should live on the campus there because they pay for your housing, so that might be something that I will look into. The reason why I want to move down is for a lot of reasons but one of the main reasons is to just slow things down, and learn to appreciate life, and plus I just want to get away from everyone and just do something exciting. But yes, ill look more into a PMV, do you have an advice on where I should stay for that or for how long I should stay? a month or so?

If you have an "in" with the Hovensa oil refinery, then at 22 you might as well take the plunge and see where it takes you. You are right that later in life it is tougher to make the move once you have ties and responsibilities and others in your life to consider.

If your job comes with moving expenses paid and a monthly housing stipend plus wages and overtime and holidays and benefits, you would be doing well in your first job out of college. Not many people want to live on-site at the refinery for long. Some stay in the "man camp" if they are here short-term, but those who stay longer usually take their housing stipend and rent an apartment or condo somewhere closer to town.

Maybe your uncle can arrange an internship for you next summer for a month or so and you can see how the island works for you and decide if you want to come back after graduation on a long-term contract.

Many of the guys at Hovensa work quite a bit of overtime and don't think they've really "slowed down" in life all that much. The best part is that when you DO have time off work you are just 5 minutes away from vacation time on the beach. That makes it easier to unwind on a fairly regular basis.

Best of luck to you!

and also my uncle was telling me to check the island of saba...have any of y'all visited there before? whats it like?

Which Saba? There's one off Sint Maarten.

I'm assuming its that one, because I didn't realize there were more than one.

I was on Saba earlier this year. It has a medical school and a nursing school, both designed for US students who couldn't get into US schools (and they make quite a bit of $$$$$ from these schools). Saba has a VERY small port, which serves as the base for the island's scuba industry. What Saba's most known for (other than scuba diving) is its SHORT runway:

http://www.airliners.net/photo/-/-/0637418&tbl=photo_info&photo_nr=10&sok=keyword_(%5C%27%2B%5C%22saba%5C%22%5C%27_IN_BOOLEAN_MODE))_&sort=_order_by_photo_id_DESC_&prev_id=0723905&next_id=0572418

There's Saba Rock in the BVI.

And there is a Saba off the south shore of St Thomas...

haha, wow there are saba's everywhere!!! haha well i'll ask him and I'll get back to y'all

I actually think he meant that it was saba near the BVI's