I can’t believe it’s almost Halloween. This will be the first time I haven’t been home for it in a long, long time! I will miss seeing all the cute little kids in their costumes…slash eating the leftover candy. Hopefully Mom will save me a basket J I did ask if the kids here trick or treat and they DO! I don’t really know what that looks like but I’m slightly interested in finding out! Today we didn’t really have plans so I took advantage and slept in until 1:30 (granted I hardly slept a wink during the night) and then studied.

 I interviewed a student here completing the electrician program. He has a wide history of construction and electrical work, along with a strong resume. He is a Native shareholder and has confidence in finding a job. He was born and raised in Fairbanks and moved to Barrow when he was fourteen, after a knife attack. He graduates in the spring and is very anxious to leave Barrow and get back to Fairbanks where there is a stronger network of community and civilization. He worked in the hospital for a year before starting classes at Ilisagvik, and is excited to see work on the new hospital being done. They are hoping to use the old hospital for housing. He stated the housing situation in Barrow is terrible and no new building takes place because it is so expensive and time consuming to ship supplies in. They obviously cannot build during the winter. He stated the motivational level of students here is very low. The apathy rubbed off on him for awhile and he was in and out of depression. He is, however, very social and enjoys meeting new people so it was easy to see he would do well in a community with more people. He thinks the future of the young people would be strong if they had more motivation. Sometimes that means moving away from Barrow and finding a new start.

 Overall I see the apathy level to be pretty high. While there are students in the college going to class, there is not much motivation to complete the work. Most people just don’t want to do much and that is very sad to me. Not having a lot of structure this week, I was able to hang out in the lounge and get to know more of the students and staff. Hopefully next week we will dive in with the visit to Point Lay.

Tomorrow there is a haunted house at the rec center from 7-10 pm. Cristian and I went over to investigate and do a run-through of tomorrow night. They will meet at 4pm tomorrow to start makeup and costumes. I, however, am NOT participating because I am a complete chicken and the last time I went through a haunted house (only 6 years ago) I came crawling out on my hands and knees, bawling. So it ain’t happening.