The rigors and rewards of RAHI

By Tori Tragis, University Marketing and Publications
September 2006

RAHI Basics

What is it? "The UAF Rural Alaska Honors Institute (RAHI), founded at the request of the Alaska Federation of Natives in 1983, was established to prepare rural and Alaska Native high school students for academic excellence and college success." -- from the RAHI mission statement

Which means? Rural or Alaska Native high school honors juniors and seniors take six weeks of college-level courses that they can later apply toward a university degree.

Who can go? The program is open to rural and Alaska Native high school honors juniors and seniors. Enrollment is competitive, which means not everyone who applies will be accepted.

How much does it cost? The cost per student is about $6,000--including travel, room, board and supplies--but the program covers all these expenses.

When is it? The institute runs for six weeks in the summer, from June to mid-July.

For more information visit RAHI's website.

Exams are a regular--and feared--part of the curriculum, but they help introduce students to the academic expectations of a university. Photo by Sam Chanar

"You get out of it what you put in."

"When I first came to RAHI I was not sure what to expect," Jordan Jeffery wrote in his journal. In the end, Jeffery and the other RAHI students said although it was tough, it was the best experience they could have had.

The demanding gig meant the students went to school full time for six weeks in the summer, many of them away from their village homes for the first time, plopped down in the middle of a big city on a university campus. They discovered that going to college was not a theory, it was a reality, and that they could buckle down, hit the books and learn more than they thought possible.

RAHI -- which is pronounced raw-high, kind of like the television cowboy show -- stands for Rural Alaska Honors Institute, and it actually does bear some resemblance to life in the Old West. Each year high school students come from all over rural Alaska to form a new community of college prep students on the UAF Fairbanks campus. They must adjust to a new lifestyle of semi-independent living in a group setting, wrangle hectic class schedules, fight homesickness and sleep deprivation, scout out future academic opportunities, build new friendships and, when opportunity allows, let their hair down for a little R&R around the campfire.

Journal excerpts from RAHI students, conversations with professors and an interview with an alumna of the program reveal much about why this tough but innovative program is so successful.

RAHI Chronicles

Student Journals

Jordan Jeffery
Barrow
"RAHI is a lot of work, but the rewards are valuable enough to make it all worthwhile."

Susan Reddaway
Nome
"The RAHI web page tells you to challenge yourself. It’s totally worth it."

Professor Profiles

Greg Owens
Associate professor of mathematics
"I am repeatedly amazed at the deep impact students tell me RAHI has had in shaping their development."

George Guthridge
Professor of English
"I love seeing kids blossom intellectually in just six weeks."

Alumni Tips

Kyan Olanna
Shishmaref
"RAHI is like anything else in life, in that you get out what you are willing to put in."

For more information please contact:

Denise Wartes, Rural Alaska Honors Institute program coordinator, (907) 474-5876, fnmdw@uaf.edu.
Tori Tragis, writer/editor, University Marketing and Publications, (907) 474-6438, tori.tragis@uaf.edu.