The fact that she’s named after a field of golden birch trees is
no coincidence. Birch Badger, 20, was born during the autumn season
in the small town of Fairbanks, Alaska and she loves being
surrounded by nature.
The fact that she’s named after a field of golden birch trees is no coincidence. Birch Badger, 20, was born during the autumn season in the small town of Fairbanks, Alaska and she loves being surrounded by nature.
“Autumn is a beautiful time of year in Alaska,” she said. “Our house was surrounded by birch trees.”
While her father filmed documentaries about native Alaskan culture, Badger and her sisters would spend their days sledding and enjoying the outdoors.
“We lived in a log cabin with no running water and we had an outhouse,” she said. “The snow was a giant playground. We built houses and did everything people who play with dirt do, just with snow instead.”
Just before Badger was about to enter kindergarten, her dad moved the family to England where he earned his master’s degree at Cambridge University. For the next few years, the Badger clan moved back and forth from Alaska to England while their dad also earned his Ph.D.
“I moved around a lot and it got hard at times, but I’m glad I did it looking back now,” she said. “Every move was an educational experience and it taught me so much. I feel very lucky.”
In 2000, just as she was about to enter her junior year of high school, the family moved from Alaska to Hollister. Badger said it was a tough transition moving from the glaciers, the tundra and rain to the summer heat and cookie cutter housing developments of Hollister.
“It was culture shock for me,” she said. “It was hard to come into a happy close-knit high school because I didn’t feel like I belonged yet.”
Although it was tough at first, Badger said the change allowed her to do a lot of thinking, and over time she began to like her new California home.
“After the initial shock, I learned there were a lot of similarities between here and Alaska and that I was just noticing all the differences because I missed home so much,” she said.
Upon graduation in 2002, she moved once again, this time to the University of California San Diego where she is studying psychology. Badger said her time in Hollister opened her eyes to the Latin American culture and she was amazed by it.
Being surrounded by a lot of Latin cultural influences has motivated her to move once again. She’ll spend the next five months traveling through Argentina and learning Spanish.
Christine Tognetti can be reached at 637-5566, ext. 330 or at ct*******@fr***********.com.
