Alaska to North Dakota (diversity)

 The lower forty-eight is not a term that is well known in Dickinson, North Dakota. I moved 3,075 miles away from my beautiful home in Alaska to further my education and the environmental differences were underwhelming. I live on a peninsula where mountains and water surround me. A perfect weekend for me is packing up my hiking gear and climbing a mountain with my dad. Here in Dickinson, I am landlocked, not only are the environmental factors different but the community and people are different. Moving somewhere with little diversity coming from a place that is known to have the most diversity in the United States is a culture shock. 

I always assumed that Alaska was not as different as the lower forty-eight but when I moved, I experienced a different type of community that I was not used to. Fishing, hunting, and hiking are huge in Alaska and as Alaskans we all share a common goal, which is to protect our wildlife. So, coming to a place where people are not active and are not immersed in nature or with each other is foreign to me. In Alaska, community is everything, there is always something going on at the park or small businesses coming together and putting on events and that is something Dickinson lacks. 

Alaska is remote and very isolated from the United States and some people even think we are a part of Canada. Every time I meet an Alaskan outside of Alaska it is an exciting interaction, we have an understanding that we are far away from home, and we are all connected through our home. I currently work at a coffee shop and two women came through and noticed I have an Alaska license plate and had a conversation about how we miss home and the people. Alaskans share the same similar experiences with run ins with bear and moose, busy summers, the love for fishing, expensive groceries and airfare, seasonal depression and of course our yearly dividend. 

Even being on a small campus like Dickinson I have met a total of four Alaskans. In a way we are all part of our own mini microculture. All of us know each other and what town we are each from. We also have the same experience of all our college friends going home on the weekends and being alone on campus. We also question what we will do for the holidays such as Thanksgiving when everyone drives home. Plane tickets are far too expensive to go home for a weekend. We all relate to each other by the same feeling of exclusion when our peers go home. Moving has impacted me in many ways but the biggest thing I took from it is to reach out to new people and listen. You never know what cool experiences they can share with you or what parts of their culture you can adapt into your own.  

I always knew it was unique to be Alaskan, but I never really appreciated how beautiful and interesting my home is. Some people have visiting my home on their bucket list and put their life savings just to fish in our rivers. I love my home and will do anything to bring it.