“I am just a Barrow kid. I grew up here. It has always been home to me. It seems no matter how far I have gone, no matter where I have gone, I have always come back. I went to school here until my junior year, then I went to Anchorage and did my last two years of high school there. My dad wanted me to experience the transition of leaving home so I could be successful in college. That was hard for me. But it did what I think it was supposed to do, and it made leaving home and the comfort of a small community much easier. So I went to Washington, then New York City for undergrad and graduate school. Right after I finished my graduate degree I came right back. I still have like 50 pairs of high heels in storage.
My maternal family is the Patkotak family from Barrow. My dad was born in South Korea. It was during the war; he was orphaned and adopted by a family in Anchorage, a strong Methodist family. They were really grounded in acceptance, equality, and love. They adopted many children; they had nine. They raised children from every background. My dad came up in the late 1970’s to work in the gas field. That’s where he met my mom and the rest is history.
I work for ASNA [Arctic Slope Native Association]. My heart has always been in the non-profit world. Marie [Carroll, President/CEO of ASNA] called me up one day and talked to me about the job, and I laughed because I didn’t have a lot of experience in health care. She said to me, ‘Well, I can train you on those things and this field but I can’t train your heart. It’s not easy to find compassion for people.’ I really appreciated that, and that’s why I ended up coming here.
People often ask me if I will ever leave Barrow or if I am going to stay here forever. The truth is, I don’t know. But even with all my traveling and living away from home, I haven’t ever been anywhere else where you feel like you are surrounded by so much love.” — Angela Nasuk Cox is Inupiaq and lives in Utqiagvik,
![“I am just a Barrow kid. I grew up here. It has always been home to me. It seems no matter how far I have gone, no matter where I have gone, I have always come back. I went to school here until my junior year, then I went to Anchorage and did my last two years of high school there. My dad wanted me to experience the transition of leaving home so I could be successful in college. That was hard for me. But it did what I think it was supposed to do, and it made leaving home and the comfort of a small community much easier. So I went to Washington, then New York City for undergrad and graduate school. Right after I finished my graduate degree I came right back. I still have like 50 pairs of high heels in storage.<br />
<br />
My maternal family is the Patkotak family from Barrow. My dad was born in South Korea. It was during the war; he was orphaned and adopted by a family in Anchorage, a strong Methodist family. They were really grounded in acceptance, equality, and love. They adopted many children; they had nine. They raised children from every background. My dad came up in the late 1970’s to work in the gas field. That’s where he met my mom and the rest is history.<br />
<br />
I work for ASNA [Arctic Slope Native Association]. My heart has always been in the non-profit world. Marie [Carroll, President/CEO of ASNA] called me up one day and talked to me about the job, and I laughed because I didn’t have a lot of experience in health care. She said to me, ‘Well, I can train you on those things and this field but I can’t train your heart. It’s not easy to find compassion for people.’ I really appreciated that, and that’s why I ended up coming here.<br />
<br />
People often ask me if I will ever leave Barrow or if I am going to stay here forever. The truth is, I don’t know. But even with all my traveling and living away from home, I haven’t ever been anywhere else where you feel like you are surrounded by so much love.” — Angela Nasuk Cox is Inupiaq and lives in Utqiagvik,](https://m.psecn.photoshelter.com/img-get2/I0000nNkWRPJMfLg/fit=1000x750/Angela-Nasuk-Cox.jpg)