(Here’s a “Happy Alumni Story.” I will have an update on North Star’s first month of the new academic year in the next installment, but it’s a bit too soon to summarize right now.)
What happens to a boy who skips school and goes fishing all day? Not just one time as a rebel, but several days each week, for several years during the ages 13-17 years old? I will tell you: our modern-day Huck Finn makes videos of his adventures, creates a YouTube channel, attracts corporate sponsors, and starts the Pioneer Valley Fly Fishing guide service when he is 17 years old. Congratulations to North Star alumnus Eliaah Feinstein, who this week has announced the launch of his and his friend’s local fishing business on the Deerfield, Housatonic, and Swift Rivers.
Some of you may recall hearing Eliaah’s name before: he is North Star’s first “second- generation” member, as his mother Caroline Miklovich and her siblings were members of Pathfinder in the 1990s. I briefly mentioned Eliaah in the “Hard Parts” chapter of my book (p. 123) as an example of a teen with a specific interests that might worry parents! During his years at North Star, Eliaah was serious about his fishing and videography, but relatively un- interested in sitting indoors for classes and tutorials. He was definitely curious about several academic topics, especially current politics and science issues, but he came to North Star primarily to find friends and have social adventures.
I remember (it was only 18 months ago!) telling Eliaah that he was living a solid life, and that it was fine that he wasn’t engaging more deeply with our staff and our offerings as long as he felt supported by us in his journey of living without school. He confirmed those feelings then, and again this week as we spoke about his business launch. “I feel that I owe all of this to North Star! I’d still be a senior in high school, sitting at home doing school online and hating life!” He is sincerely appreciative of having people understand and support him during his mid-teen years.
In the year or so since Eliaah was a member at North Star, he has held a series of part-time jobs to fund his fishing life – fast food, coffee shops, farmwork, and even informal guiding of friends on the rivers. In addition, Eliaah took some classes at Greenfield Community College in photography and videography. When I asked him if he found them useful, he replied, “Definitely! I’d be taking more right now, but I’m not an online-kind-of-guy. I’ll take more when things resume in person.” (Eliaah reports his business partner Henry is taking some business and entrepreneurship classes at GCC online this fall.)
Meanwhile, Eliaah and Henry are busy doing start-up tasks such as incorporating, obtaining insurance, developing a website, and creating a marketing plan. They are also taking a Wilderness First Responder course, among other trainings.
It is easy to be Eliaah’s cheerleader, and those of you reading this story may find his path to be relatively simple and believable. However, it’s not always easy to be the parent of a teen such as Eliaah, and hold the confidence that opting out of traditional school is really opening up life in an exciting way. As I meet new teens and parents who are feeling trapped in school at ages 13 – 17, I see it is easy for them to brush off Eliaah’s story with, “Sure, it sounds like it worked for him, but your approach might not work for my child, and then where will he be?” Our culture is filled with fear related to stepping out of the conventional path, and this fear is held by young people as well as their parents. Where’s the guarantee that choosing North Star will lead to a spectacular result for them?
My answer amuses me: “Eliaah is special, but he’s not that special.” Lots of people have done what he has done! The trick is to have some self-control over one’s life, and to take oneself seriously. Also, one needs to have the confidence to declare an interest, take a risk, and see how far one can take it. The good news is that even if it doesn’t work out, or teens discover that their interest is more limited than they had thought, they can take the process and move on to their next activity or exploration. The process and skill-building matter.
I don’t know if Eliaah and Henry will succeed with their first business, Pioneer Valley Fly Fishing. It seems that they are in good shape, but who knows how things will evolve for them? What we can celebrate is their enthusiasm, their vision, their risk-taking, and their sincere desire to share their joy of fly-fishing with the rest of us. Good luck!