Success

Recently I proctored the High School Grade Qualifying Exam. Just two students took the test- one of whom is on my caseload. It was brutally boring for me and not much fun for the students. I just sat at my desk trying to be productive (and checking in on the baseball playoffs) while they worked for about 3 hours per day. The test is un-timed so they just kept working until they finished. Students have to pass all three sections of the test (reading, writing and math) in order to get a high school diploma which means they have to keep taking it every year from 10th grade on until they pass. However, if you pass the reading section but fail the other two, you never have to take the reading section again. It's pretty high stakes.
The student on my caseload who took the test is pretty intellectually impaired. Also, his English is not nearly as strong as his Yup'ik. There's almost no chance he will pass the test this year. He turns 20 in December so he really only has one more chance to take and pass the test after this. More than likely he will finish high school with a certificate of attendance rather than a diploma. His plan is to join the Alaska Job Corp in Anchorage and then possibly the military. These are not bad options for a person in his situation. Just the fact that he's thinking about the future is a great sign actually. But chances are he's not going to go on to college and his job prospects are pretty narrow.
What is perhaps most interesting is that he can probably live a healthy and productive life with no further education or training as long as he stays in the village. He can fish and hunt just fine so subsistence is not really an issue for him and subsistence was (and still is to some extent) the name of the game here. So, while a student like this (with extremely low academic achievement) would be more or less doomed in NYC or Portland- this student will more than likely be OK out here. It would be great if he joins the Job Corp in order to open up some doors for himself but if he doesn't he could live in a way that would be very similar to his ancestors. This is, in fact, preferable to a lot of the students who want to hunt and fish rather than work some job.
On the one hand, it would be unfortunate if this student had no other options than staying here. On the other, it can be a good life. While my job is to help open doors for students, it's not my place to tell them which one to go through.