Wrangell Sentinel -

Every year on Dec. 1, the internet is flooded with variations on the same video - a high school senior sits at their laptop surrounded by a crowd of onlookers who are anxious to discover whether the student has received a full ride to an elite college through the Questbridge program. The student opens their status letter and the crowd goes wild. The student is smothered in hugs. Tears are shed.

When Wrangell High School's Nikolai Bardin-Siekawitch received his Questbridge email, his response was "subdued" by comparison, he said. The letter arrived in his inbox during second period, but he...