Young Chacalean's Moving On

Chacala's young adults are starting to attend university or other post-high school educational programs. Chuy and Javier, who are part of the Munoz family, and who have been working with Laura de Valle at MardeJade are both in Puerto Vallarta. One is attending the PV branch of one of the Guadalajara universities and the other one is getting ready to study at one of the two-technical programs. I can't remember which is which. Lundy (sp?) is in her last year of university.

Three of the EBACH young men who graduated last spring are attending higher education options. Geraldo is at the state University in Tepic. I don't know which branch. Pablo (Arturo) and Gustavo at studying at two year programs in PV. Pablo is studying tourism and I can't remember was Gustavo is doing.

Unfortunately, the competition for the public university spots in Tepic is very high. Highly qualified students, including some from Chacala, are not accepted because of space limitations. More kids are graduating from high school than ever before. And many more students are applying for university seats at the public universities. But the funding isn't there to add spaces for more students. And to make things more difficult for young students, the public opinion seems to bethat those applicants with good connections with the powers-that-be and/or some cash are first in line for admission. I don't know if that's true or not. In the US, it is definitely true at private universities, but I don't think it's very common at publicly funded school. Who knows.

There are places open at some of the mid-ranked private universities in Nayarit and Jalisco, but they are very expensive. It seems to be generally accepted in Mexico that a university degree does not automatically result in a good job. Same as in the US. It is scary to see some of the kids to town who have worked so hard to get an education still in Chacala this Fall, with no plans on the horizon.