Move makes the man

Coming out of eighth-grade, Jason Christensen thought he had it all -- he was a "big fish in a small pond," he said. He was going to play varsity basketball as a freshman at Barrow High School, he had just got a snowmachine and was getting into hunting.

And then, his world changed drastically. His dad told him they were moving to the Mat-Su. Suddenly, everything was different.

"I was mad at my dad for a while because I was used to everybody knowing who I was, and here, I had to make all new friends," Christensen said. "It was really tough at first. It wasn't easy to meet new people. Through basketball, I met a couple of new friends and things got easier."

He was born and raised in Barrow, and the cultural move was as large as the physical move. In fact, Christensen was one of the only Inupait Eskimos playing 4A basketball -- the largest division in the state. Barrow is a 3A school.

"I didn't really think about that much. I was just playing," Christensen said.

Because of the move, Christensen said he sees things a bit differently now.

"It changed me a lot because I've learned how to deal with and handle tough situations the right way," Christensen said. "I can deal with change, because I had to change everything."

Christensen played basketball at Colony High School for four years, just finishing his senior season last week at the state tournament. In Barrow, he would have been playing varsity as a freshman, but at Colony, he played junior varsity and "swung" varsity as a freshman. He was on varsity for the last three years of his high school career.

Basketball has always been an important part of his life, but not the most important. That is his family.

"The Jason Christensen Fan Club" took their seats at every Colony High School game. They were the loudest group in the gym, and each time Christensen looked up there, he couldn't help but smile.

"I've got a real big family, and it's nice that they support me so much," Christensen said. "And not just in basketball."

He said off the court, he enjoys hanging out with his family and going to church. Plus, there's that banjo he got for Christmas that he's still trying to pick up.

"My grandfather played the banjo and I've always wanted to learn, and I got one for Christmas," he said.

Following graduation, Christensen said he will work the summer, hopefully on the Slope, and then attend the University of Alaska Anchorage. He said he wants to spend a year or two there, and then transfer somewhere warm, "like Oregon or Hawaii."

He is planning on studying business administration and international relations, hopefully paving the way to a career with Arctic Slope Regional Corporation, a Native corporation of which Christensen is a stockholder.