2008 Woodie Awards
A Locals' Life
People born and raised behind the Redwood Curtain
Meghannraye Sutton
Issue date: 11/28/07 Section: Culture
- Page 1 of 1
Humboldt County local Amanda Schreiber shocks some people when they ask where she wants to go to college and she responds Humboldt State University.
"They laugh and say, 'Oh, you don't want to go somewhere else?'" she said.
Schreiber has lived in Humboldt County all her life. After graduating from Eureka High in 2005, she faced the decision to stay in Humboldt County or leave like some of her other friends. She decided to stay. She currently attends College of the Redwoods and plans to transfer to Humboldt State next semester.
Although she doesn't plan on living here forever, she is more than happy to hang out in Humboldt for at least another few years. Her family is here. Most of her friends are still here. Her whole life is here. This is the place that she has always called home. She loves Humboldt County, she said. This is where her heart is.
"People don't realize what they've lost until they move away," she said.
According to Humboldt State's Fall 2007 Student Enrollment Report, 21.6 percent of the current student body (about 1,630 students) transferred from somewhere in Humboldt County. Humboldt County originals decide to attend Humboldt State for many reasons: cheap tuition and living situations, location, the familiar faces and all the other blessings of living under the Redwood Curtain.
People that do leave often come back. It's as if a mystical force draws them back into Humboldt County like a black hole.
Schreiber said that the same friends that complained about living in Humboldt moved away and ended up coming back. "Some people act super annoyed and say they hate this place," she said.
"That's the thing about growing up here," she said. "You either love it or you hate it."
The "Humboldt bubble" can get kind of old for some locals. Toby Haskett knows all about it.
For 22 years, Haskett has lived in Humboldt County. He doesn't exactly personify the stereotypical Humboldt hippie. He usually wears clean fleece zip-ups, Carhart khakis and has short un-dreadlocked blonde hair that he wears under a leather Indiana Jones-like hat. He describes himself as kind of "hickish."
Last Monday, he and his friend rented a Bobcat tractor from Ace Hardware that they rode around his parents' property just for fun.
"Some of my friends say I'm hickish when I ride around tractors and go shooting," he said. "I'm definitely not as hickish as some people in Humboldt."
Growing up in Humboldt, Haskett has seen a hippie or two. He's been exposed to stoners his whole life, he said, and now they're just annoying.
"The stoner culture bothers me now," he said. "I distance myself from it... I don't want to be put in that category."
After graduating from Arcata High School, Haskett decided he needed to get away from the monotony of Humboldt County for a while. He spent a year working on a farm and traveling around in New Zealand, a place far away from home but similar to Humboldt County in climate and geography. Haskett said he was glad he got the opportunity to get out of here for a while.
When he got back to Humboldt a year later, he decided to attend Humboldt State. He didn't even look at other universities, he said.
"I'm not really in touch with how other universities are," he said.
He often sees old faces from Arcata High or McKinleyville Middle School on campus, he said.
Like Schreiber, Haskett decided on Humboldt State for the cost and convenience. Some of Haskett's friends decided to go to top-dollar universities after high school. Now a lot of them have their degrees and owe thousands upon thousands of dollars in student loans, he said.
"A lot my friends have huge [student loan] debts and can't pay them," he said. "[HSU]'s pretty damn cheap."
Haskett said the most he ever had in debt was a few hundred dollars. He saves money by living at home in McKinleyville.
Some locals take a different route and move out of the area for college.
Brian Mogel was born and raised in Fortuna, where he attended high school. After graduation, he decided to leave Fortuna and Humboldt County for the city life. He considered three different colleges: Humboldt State University, Montana State University, and Oregon State University. He finally decided on Oregon State because of their Forestry program, which is ranked at No. 1 in the nation (Humboldt State is No. 3). Plus, he said, he wanted to get out of Humboldt County.
"I didn't want to go to school where I grew up," he said. "I wanted to meet other people and get a whole different experience."
Once he got to Oregon, Mogel was exposed to different types of people. "The dudes had hair gel and people dressed up," he said. "It was weird."
Oregon State University is located in the city of Corvallis, a metropolitan area in Western Oregon with about 50,000 people. Mogel describes it as a preppy college town.
After graduating from Oregon State in 2005, Mogel moved back to Humboldt County. He lives back in the hills of Fortuna. He ironically now works at Humboldt State. He's happy to be home, he said.
"A lot of my friends say they want to get the [blank] out of here," he said. "Now that I'm back there's nowhere else I want to be."
Meghannraye Sutton can be reached at mms75@humboldt.edu
"They laugh and say, 'Oh, you don't want to go somewhere else?'" she said.
Schreiber has lived in Humboldt County all her life. After graduating from Eureka High in 2005, she faced the decision to stay in Humboldt County or leave like some of her other friends. She decided to stay. She currently attends College of the Redwoods and plans to transfer to Humboldt State next semester.
Although she doesn't plan on living here forever, she is more than happy to hang out in Humboldt for at least another few years. Her family is here. Most of her friends are still here. Her whole life is here. This is the place that she has always called home. She loves Humboldt County, she said. This is where her heart is.
"People don't realize what they've lost until they move away," she said.
According to Humboldt State's Fall 2007 Student Enrollment Report, 21.6 percent of the current student body (about 1,630 students) transferred from somewhere in Humboldt County. Humboldt County originals decide to attend Humboldt State for many reasons: cheap tuition and living situations, location, the familiar faces and all the other blessings of living under the Redwood Curtain.
People that do leave often come back. It's as if a mystical force draws them back into Humboldt County like a black hole.
Schreiber said that the same friends that complained about living in Humboldt moved away and ended up coming back. "Some people act super annoyed and say they hate this place," she said.
"That's the thing about growing up here," she said. "You either love it or you hate it."
The "Humboldt bubble" can get kind of old for some locals. Toby Haskett knows all about it.
For 22 years, Haskett has lived in Humboldt County. He doesn't exactly personify the stereotypical Humboldt hippie. He usually wears clean fleece zip-ups, Carhart khakis and has short un-dreadlocked blonde hair that he wears under a leather Indiana Jones-like hat. He describes himself as kind of "hickish."
Last Monday, he and his friend rented a Bobcat tractor from Ace Hardware that they rode around his parents' property just for fun.
"Some of my friends say I'm hickish when I ride around tractors and go shooting," he said. "I'm definitely not as hickish as some people in Humboldt."
Growing up in Humboldt, Haskett has seen a hippie or two. He's been exposed to stoners his whole life, he said, and now they're just annoying.
"The stoner culture bothers me now," he said. "I distance myself from it... I don't want to be put in that category."
After graduating from Arcata High School, Haskett decided he needed to get away from the monotony of Humboldt County for a while. He spent a year working on a farm and traveling around in New Zealand, a place far away from home but similar to Humboldt County in climate and geography. Haskett said he was glad he got the opportunity to get out of here for a while.
When he got back to Humboldt a year later, he decided to attend Humboldt State. He didn't even look at other universities, he said.
"I'm not really in touch with how other universities are," he said.
He often sees old faces from Arcata High or McKinleyville Middle School on campus, he said.
Like Schreiber, Haskett decided on Humboldt State for the cost and convenience. Some of Haskett's friends decided to go to top-dollar universities after high school. Now a lot of them have their degrees and owe thousands upon thousands of dollars in student loans, he said.
"A lot my friends have huge [student loan] debts and can't pay them," he said. "[HSU]'s pretty damn cheap."
Haskett said the most he ever had in debt was a few hundred dollars. He saves money by living at home in McKinleyville.
Some locals take a different route and move out of the area for college.
Brian Mogel was born and raised in Fortuna, where he attended high school. After graduation, he decided to leave Fortuna and Humboldt County for the city life. He considered three different colleges: Humboldt State University, Montana State University, and Oregon State University. He finally decided on Oregon State because of their Forestry program, which is ranked at No. 1 in the nation (Humboldt State is No. 3). Plus, he said, he wanted to get out of Humboldt County.
"I didn't want to go to school where I grew up," he said. "I wanted to meet other people and get a whole different experience."
Once he got to Oregon, Mogel was exposed to different types of people. "The dudes had hair gel and people dressed up," he said. "It was weird."
Oregon State University is located in the city of Corvallis, a metropolitan area in Western Oregon with about 50,000 people. Mogel describes it as a preppy college town.
After graduating from Oregon State in 2005, Mogel moved back to Humboldt County. He lives back in the hills of Fortuna. He ironically now works at Humboldt State. He's happy to be home, he said.
"A lot of my friends say they want to get the [blank] out of here," he said. "Now that I'm back there's nowhere else I want to be."
Meghannraye Sutton can be reached at mms75@humboldt.edu
Be the first to comment on this story