I had no idea what to expect when I moved to Arcata, CA for school. I didn’t really read up on it, and all I had to go on was a brief trip that I took three months before moving there. I had a blast, but it was short-lived and it didn’t quite capture the place for what it really was. At any rate, I have compiled a short list of things to consider before making a move to Humboldt Satate University:
1.) It rains almost every day
Arcata rainfall averages around 5 inches per year, and the area is considered a temperate rain-forest. While beautiful, the constant rain lowers the morale of people who aren’t used to extended periods of stormy weather. I’ve heard a lot of locals say that students drop out because they expect Humboldt to be the way it is during the summer: warm, sunny, and relatively dry.
2.) You are going to get extremely sick
I have no idea if it’s because of the excess moisture, mold, or college-mutated super germs. All I know is that an abnormally virulent cold called the Humboldt Hack (or the Crud) wreaks havoc around fall, when students return to campus.
I thought I had the best immune system in the world when I first moved to Arcata I rarely got sick. I even made a bet with my old roommate thinking I wouldn’t get the Hack but I did. Not only did I lose a six-pack of beer, but I lost the ability to take a full breath of air into my lungs without hacking up a nasty, handful sized wad of phlegm for about a month.
3.) Humboldt State University is huge
You won’t get the joke, “Hills and Stairs University,” until you’ve been going to school there for a month. Nestled on a neat 144 acres next to the Arcata Community Forest, HSU is a seemingly small campus until you start studying.
Only when you have to walk over two large hills and a couple sets of stairs in ten minutes does the struggle become real. It’s no joke. All I can recommend to avoid further discomfort is to get housing that’s close to campus if you’re not living in the dorms. Parking gets pretty difficult, and waiting for the bus or biking in the rain is not fun on a day to day basis.
4.) Arcata cuisine is sub-par
I became a pretty good cook by the time I got my BA. There were only a few joints in town that I felt were actually worth my money, so I just decided that I was going to figure it out for myself.
At first it was a struggle trying to get the methods right using the measly kitchen items I owned. But I quickly adapted. Pretty soon I was eating the best tacos and burritos in town, all made in my kitchen (think pineapple and a 30 lb. chunk of pork shoulder). For the record: Don’s, Toni’s, and Crosswinds Café are all worth checking out.
5.) Arcata is a tight-knit community
It took me a while to carve a comfortable niche for myself, and for a while I really felt out of place. But by the end of my studies, I had a good group of friends that lived close, I ate good food, and enjoyed locally produced everything. Nonetheless, I still felt that there was something missing.
It’s hard to describe. As someone who grew up in the city, there are certain things a small town can’t offer. But what Arcata lacks it makes up for in sheer imagination and originality.
While the things on my list are mostly negative, I suppose it’s because everything else I learned about that place was almost magical, and almost too surreal to describe. They are things that you can’t learn vicariously, and I wouldn’t want to spoil it.
Given the chance, I would never trade my experience for any other. And I don’t regret a single moment living behind the redwood curtain.
Dean Sorrgen graduated from HSU in late 2013 with a BA in English. He now spends the majority of his time writing and exploring the natural world around him.