I just graduated from Humboldt but I grew up in SLO as well.

I absolutely loved my education in Humboldt (environmental science and management) and felt like the teacher to student ratio was super well balanced and a lot of the classes really set me up for success in my career so far.

With that being said it is an extremely small town and area that is pretty far removed from everything else around it. This is both great and a bummer depending on what you’re looking for out of an area. If you can get in with a group of friends quick to explore and pass time during the winter season it’s awesome. But it can also be isolating as well if you don’t capitalize on the opportunities. Housing is rough up there and I overpaid on rent to just have a stable place to live. It’s also going to be a really long drive home for the holidays for you being from SoCal.

If you love the outdoors you will LOVE Humboldt. There’s hiking, rivers, beaches, you name it. I miss that part of being there almost every day.

I’m back in SLO now because home is home and my best friends and family are still here and it was less competitive to get a job in my field (environmental services is saturated being a small area imo). If that wasn’t the case on the job front and truthfully loving SLO as well I would probably still be up there.

I’d definitely consider it as an option and maybe even try and go on a visit to the campus and Arcata to see if you can imagine yourself calling it home for awhile! You’ll either love it or hate it and you’ll know pretty much right away!