Dear summer guests,By JEFF LUND
May 01, 2019
(SitNews) Ketchikan, Alaska - People get really poetic about their fishing trips, hunting trips or cruise ship excursions in Alaska. Those who get the most fired up about it here, talk about Alaska as if it’s a love story, as if it provides the essence to their existence yet when they return home, how many of them can tell their friends about a single person who lives there? What type of person calls this place home, do you have any idea? That’s the real treat. What type of person endures all that rain you hear about and lives all those stereotypes – not just works here for the nice part of the year. The people who are part of a community, not just the work force. Chances are you’ve seen photography or read articles inspired by Alaska that were done by people on visits just like you. But we’ve got our own stories to tell. That hoodie that says “Net Fish and Chill” was made by a seventh generation Ketchikanian. When worthy members of his family pass, they are honored with Viking funerals. He could probably do the ancestory.com thing, but probably doesn’t have to. That kid over there fueling up the plane before you take off to the Misty Fjords? He helped Kayhi win its first state basketball championship in over 40 years. That kid over there? She was on the Academic Decathlon team that won the National Championship last year. Yeah, National. Competed against private schools around the nation, and she and her teammates won. That girl won state in the National Oceanic Science Bowl, that kid is heading to Princeton. In fact, contrary to what you might think about being sheltered, I’ve found that students in Ketchikan might just be more prepared for the real world than that of their Lower 48 counterparts. I taught high school in California for ten years and would put the best Ketchikan has to offer up with the best I had down there. Why? Alaska kids have summer jobs that require charisma, social skills and combating stereotypes. By the time they are ready to get to college, they have organized schools of you esteemed guests and know that if Ketchikan isn’t like the stereotype, most other places probably aren’t either. They are from a place in which a hunter and a vegetarian can kayak or hike a mountain together because what you call yourself is not the most important part of an identity. Your social or political label doesn’t have to be the most important thing about you. Anyone can come to Alaska and brag to their friends about their experience visiting here. Few people go back home having met and listened to what it’s like to live here. Ask around, get a real feel for this town. The people are the best part.
Representations of fact and opinions in comments posted below are solely those of the individual posters and do not represent the opinions of Sitnews. E-mail your news &
photos to editor@sitnews.us
|
||||
