A cool breeze wafts into the car as the strum of Zach Bryan’s guitar leaves the speakers. The melancholic chords invoke memories of nights characterized by balmy campfires and days spent near the lakeside. As the chords continue, the picturesque Flattop Mountain and snowy caps of Mount Alyeska, Alaska morph into an unfamiliar route through St. Louis.  

Duncan Kitchen (10)  has lived in Anchorage, Alaska his whole life. In August 2024,  his dad’s job brought his family to St. Louis. After having a taste of the culture, Duncan reflects on the similarities between the two places.  

As a new student, it can be difficult to find the right group. Duncan recalls the reluctance he faced when approaching new people at the beginning of the year.

“Those first couple of months [living in St. Louis], I was kind of alone on the weekends,” Duncan said. “I didn’t think anybody didn’t like me, but it was a lot of not getting invited to things. [At Ladue] it felt very cliquey, so that was pretty hard to overcome and mentally be okay with.”

For someone that moved 3,724 miles, not to mention a teenager dealing with a different environment, details tend to be blown out of proportion, especially without someone to lean on. 

“There’s so much more to life than just high school,” Vanessa Kitchen, Duncan’s mom, said. “[I] remind [Duncan] that this is only a chapter [and to] try to focus on lessons learned and connections.” 

However, Duncan has struggled to make these connections as the differences seem more prominent.

“Sports [are] a big part of [St. Louis culture],” Duncan said. [There is] kind of the cult following that you’ll see here. I’ve never grown up really caring about sports, but almost every day in school, people talk about March Madness.”

With all the chaos of the move,   Duncan focused on maintaing a strong relationship with his family  as they navigated their life in a new city.

 “I feel, as his mother that we’re very close,” Vanessa said. “It’s important to me that we have a strong, open [and] great relationship. I think just him growing and maturing and being more independent [is what] his father and myself, [are] focusing on.”

For Duncan, the process of moving itself was stressful knowing that his time in Anchorage had an expiration date. However, reflecting on the experience months later, his perception changed.

“I [have lived] in the same spot my whole life,  then [we] moved to [St. Louis],” Duncan said. “I was upset when I found out that we were moving mid June of [last] summer, and then [we] had to be out by August. I went past my [old] house because I went up to [Alaska] over winter break, I was like, cool. It’s great now because of all the people I met.”