Teaching in rural Alaska can be both rewarding and challenging. It is a different world to be a teacher in a small village like Gambell, Alaska. It is on St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea in the State of Alaska. The people here are called Siberian Yupik, widely known for their skillful carvings of walrus ivory and the baleen of bowhead whales. The village has a population of more or less 800 people.
Alaska can be a great place to live and work. However, it offers a high cost of living due to its location. When you live completely cut off from the road systems, the price of gas, shipping, groceries, and other amenities increase significantly. There are no coffee shops, bookstores, movie theatres, and malls to hang out after school.
I generally work about 10 to 12 hours a day and then go home to our apartment (owned by the school district), make some dinner, go to sleep and do it all over again. You live a simple life here but redundant at the same time. There are a few outlets in the village if you want to do something else to keep yourself busy after school hours.
Also, extreme weather conditions can be a factor. Winter can be tough on people. The extended dark hours in winter can be depressing to others when it feels as though it is always night time.
But through it all, the best thing that happened to me here is when I got to know my students. I realize that teaching Algebra or Geometry is as important as knowing them personally. Hearing their stories, their daily struggles, and how they survive life by hunting makes me more understand them. I believe that teachers can also learn from students, and students learn from teachers. It is a give-and-take relationship. And when teaching and learning become shared experiences, this is the best way to understand the learners and their background and culture. Indeed, this is the most challenging yet rewarding experience of my life.