While many unaccompanied minors deal with their precarious situation by focusing on school success, there is a lack of knowledge about the diversity of factors that hinder and stimulate their life trajectories, including their school career. This article focuses on the long term school trajectories of unaccompanied minors who were highly motivated to have a successful school career when they arrived in the Netherlands. We show that in spite of their eagerness and qualities, institutional factors in education and discursive exclusion are obstacles in their school career. Nonetheless, these ambitious young people are largely able to overcome these obstacles by mobilizing di?erent kinds of social support. However, some of them are confronted with a legal obstacle when they turn eighteen and did not obtain a residence permit. This makes them unable to continue their school career for several years. Therefore, the school careers of these highly motivated young people vary greatly: some people were still able to make their dreams partly come true, others got marginalized.

DOI: 10.5117/MEM2017.4.GHAE
ISSN: 0025-9454