On April 20, The Forum ran a front-page article regarding the "alarming" number of people out-migrating from North Dakota. This subject is of great interest to me.
I was born and raised in Bismarck and received my degree from North Dakota State University. It has been three years since I graduated from college, and for a good portion of that time I have held what many here consider "a good job." I have a regular paycheck, convenient hours, and health insurance. Unfortunately, I am also still deferring my student loans and living in an efficiency apartment.
An educated, experienced, independent woman, I have spent a considerable part of my 20s trying to make an honest go of it in North Dakota. This is where my family is, my social circle, my home. All I have managed to do is barely scrape by, as the amount I owe for my schooling continues to grow with interest. So this summer I, like thousands before me, will become an out-migrant.
What would make someone with so much potential give up all they know and have worked toward for an entirely unpredictable future in a strange place? Money? Adventure? A simple change of pace? Sure, those things are factors. But the real source of my disillusion is embodied in another front-page article that appeared a few days after the one on out-migration.
This article asked a sample of Fargoans for whom they planned to vote in the upcoming mayoral election. The piece showed a large, colorful pie chart featuring the faces of each of the five candidates in the race. It even pictured Richard Blair, with an undetectable sliver of the circle indicating .4 percent of the vote. But something was missing from a fair and balanced account of this story. That something was a picture of the sixth mayoral candidate, J.J. Gordon. True, he was mentioned very briefly, below the fold, but I wondered why his image wasn't portrayed with the rest of the contenders.
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I asked among my peers, and was surprised to hear that the little press Gordon has managed to receive has been inexplicably critical and negative. Many of those in my age group are wondering why. I imagine most older citizens aren't; I imagine most of them haven't even noticed. And that is a shining example of why, by the first of June, I will no longer be a resident of North Dakota.
Despite being an accomplished theatre artist and technician, I am regarded as an intern. A skilled professional in my business office, I am considered "the baby," and I have watched as my strong and polished resume has fallen through the cracks, while desirable positions are co-opted by someone older with less education.
Our state's future is being jeopardized by the entrenched, narrow-minded, middle/upper-class and middle/upper-aged who have refused progress and prevented the youth of North Dakota from finding a foothold here.
Do yourselves a favor, North Dakota, and start hearing the call of your fresh, educated, optimistic up-and-comings, or they won't be here at all when you finally decide to listen.
But then, does it really matter to you what I have to say? Why should you take my opinion seriously? I'm only 27, and I'm already gone.
Krengel lives in Fargo. E-mail amber@theatreb.org
