Well we said goodbye to Quinhagak and are now back in Fairbanks after are week long experience in a rural village. I have to say I want to go back someday and this experience has cemented my desire to one day teach in a rural community. Before we left I had a chance to sit down and talk to the high school social studies and art teacher about her career spent teaching in Quinhagak. I wanted her perspective because her and her husband have both been long term teachers in Quinhagak. She stated it wasn't easy, but loved her job. Her sentiments were shared by all the teachers and looking back at the staff of the Quinhagak school they all got along with each other and were there for the students. Of course there was the typical stress about standardized testing and making sure students graduate, but other than that the atmosphere of the school and the community was positive, inviting, and most importantly connected. The joy of learning was also evident in almost every classroom, the students loved to learn. With an experience like that it is hard not to develop a heart for rural Alaska and its wonderful people. If I learned anything it was that the relationships with people and the journey through life are more important than the temperature outside or your house's plumbing situation. The richness of Quinhagak is its people and once you realize that everything else becomes icing on the cake.
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