By Peter Venardos   The ruffling of sleeping bags and zippers is just enough noise to wake him up. He doesn’t mind though, because he knows he still has an hour of rest left. Laying in the damp sleeping bag, he falls back to sleep running through what to expect on the climb they will embark on in a few hours. “Waters hot!” His partner yells through the tent vestibule. Stiff and groggy, he crawls out to start the morning ritual with instant coffee, oatmeal, and the highlight of their dirtbag diet: graham crackers and peanut butter. Amidst the half awake conversations and sips of coffee, they gather the gear…

By Allen Ginnett   Imagine the reality of what N.W.A did to the world. I, like most white kids, was exposed to reality for the first time. I remember getting that Snoop’s greatest hits album for Christmas and it was on. Then, like a west coast scholar, I did my homework. I’m in Alaska, I’m getting exposed to all kinds of shit, Mac Dre to Odd Future. I’m from Anchorage, which is a city of a quarter million so the homies I grew up with playing basketball were hustling and going hard in the streets. Alaska has the same realities influenced by California. I use all of California’s influences in…

by Johanna Kumpula   I’ve accumulated a total of almost 120 hours playing The Witcher 3. I completed nearly every side quest, monster hunt, main quest, and point of interest in the game, except for quests related to Gwent because the last thing I want to do while hunting monsters is bet on my inability to win a card game. My favorite character in the game is Olgierd von Everec – a character accessible with purchase of the Hearts of Stone DLC – and my favorite monster is the Griffin. Whenever I got bored playing the game, I’d switch over to Skyrim or Divinity, games with a combined play time…

by Allie Williams   “Okay, so you see this number?” I nodded, “we want to get this down to 140.” I nodded again. The girl whose name I could not remember handed me a bag, “okay now hand this out.” The car pulled up and I smiled and handed them the bag. They drive away. “Okay good!” She smiled at me but it didn’t quite seem real, “next time try to say thanks or have a nice day or something like that.” I nodded again. One of the boys I went to high school with walked behind the counter and I sighed with relief. He’d help me. A person I…

by Johanna Kumpula   What do you see? I see white blanketing the frozen ground like a mother tucking in a child. I see green and grey giants towering above the Earth like soldiers protecting their land. I see the world around me dancing as the wind steals the cold and ushers it towards the mountains but most importantly, I see a home. The home I grew up in, chasing dragonflies and skinning knees, laughing with friends and screaming into the void. There’s an old rope swing tied to the tree in the middle of the yard. I used to fly up into the sky and chase the birds on…

By Allen Ginnett My stomach was rumbling as I tried to pay attention to the teacher. I had not ate all day and I smoked a bunch of weed; this was not the feeling. “Blah, blah-blah, blah, blah-blah.” The teacher continued to talk as I sat in my chair and attempted to listen but the rumbling in stomach was too intense. It was like a baby was kicking inside me; weird. “Blah, Blah-blah, blah and I swear Allen has a six year old inside of him sometimes the way he structures his writing.” Bam, it hit me like a ton of bricks. Everything in my entire life was put in…

By Marcel Bergeron 2003 was my final year of high school. It would also be the last time I would attend a formal school for over a decade. I spent most of my high school career battling disappointment, fear, and confusion as I struggled to complete my classes. I eventually came to a point in life when I realized that to advance in my career, I needed to further my education. With a good support system and a lot of encouragement from my wife, I mustered the courage in 2016 to apply for college at Alaska Pacific University. That spring I opened a letter from APU and read the black,…

By Fari Sylvester My mother grew up without a lot of family traditions, so she and her four brother and four sisters decided to create a tradition of their own. In 2000, we took our first family trip with 45 people to Homer for the Memorial Weekend. My mom and her siblings grew up in Homer, so this wasn’t their first stroll down the Homer beach. My mom was excited to share their stories and reminisce about life growing up. Fast forward to 2017, and we have kept this tradition alive. My brother Derrick has become the leader of the pack. There are 34 of us first-cousins and it’s a…

by Quinn Berry This was the summer before my sophomore year of high school, so about four or five years ago. I was out in my backyard digging holes to plant apple trees. Although the trees we were going to plant weren’t my favorite (Red Delicious is obviously the best choice, considering it has the word “delicious” in the name), I wasn’t going to argue with trees that provided apples without making a trip to the store. What I was a bit upset about was the fact that I had to dig the holes on my own. Being not the smartest 15-year-old, I decided to start digging the holes only…