G-Prep education worth the miles for Idaho teen

Just how far would you go to get a good education? For Tiffany Wadel the answer is approximately 150 miles.

The Bonners Ferry teen didn’t even know Gonzaga Prep existed until she heard an ad for the school on the car radio. “I told my Mom I wanted to go,” she said.

Wadel has always been a motivated student with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. Though she can’t explain why, she said, “I’m just driven to get the best education possible.”

Her mother gently pointed out the obstacles that lay between Wadel and attending Gonzaga Prep. The commute from Bonner’s Ferry, near the Canadian border, to G-Prep in north Spokane would be impossible for her family to arrange. “It takes five hours, round trip,” the teen said. In addition, though the school offers a tuition-assistance program, it still was outside the family’s budget.

Despite the barriers, her mom agreed to take her daughter to the school’s open house. “I immediately felt an attachment to it,” she said. “And I really enjoyed the city.” They took home the paperwork and applied for admission with no idea of how they would pay the tuition, let alone get her there.

“The first big break we got was that I was awarded a full-tuition scholarship,” Wadel said. Then the school arranged for her to live with a host family. She met the family in July before the start of her freshman year and moved in with them three weeks later. When asked if she was nervous about being so far from home, Wadel squealed, “Are you kidding? I’d never been away from home for more than a day. It was so scary!”

Still, her innate independence made the transition easier. “I’ve done my own laundry since I was, like, 6 or 7,” she said. “I like lots of responsibility. It’s just who I am.”

She joined the volleyball team and quickly made friends. Wadel said the biggest adjustment was acclimating to the difference between small-town life and city living. “It’s much faster paced than Bonners Ferry.”

Still, she not only kept up, she excelled. “She’s a focused, absolutely stellar scholar,” said guidance counselor Ann Kukuk. “Often, if not tutoring younger students through National Honor Society, she studies during lunch to get a head start on the evening’s academic preparations.” In addition, Kukuk said this gifted student was named a Boise State Scholar and received the Presidential Award for Academic Excellence.

While it seems Wadel has made tremendous sacrifices in the pursuit of education, she’s quick to point out that her mother has sacrificed as well. “She missed seeing a lot of things,” Wadel said. “She would have liked to have been here for Mother’s Day Mass or my tennis matches.”

She said during her first two years at G-Prep, her mom would make the long drive after work on Fridays and bring her back to Bonners Ferry for the weekend. Once Wadel got her license, she could drive herself home. That’s still what she calls Bonners Ferry – home. “It’s where my house, my family and my dogs are. When I go home it feels like a retreat.”

This award-winning scholar will soon be traveling even farther. She will attend Seattle University this fall and is thinking about a career in law or economics.

“I’m very lucky to have gone to Prep,” she said. She feels embraced by a network of people who expressed a genuine interest in her future.

“The thing I most admire about Tiffany is she was so motivated to stretch her comfort zone,” said Kukuk. “She’ll be missed in the Prep community.”