Scholars and university administrators have noted significant disparities in the rates at which Native students graduate from college in a timely manner relative to students from other racial/ethnic groups. It has been posited that this is because in order to succeed, Native students must negotiate the contradictory values of Western and Native cultures as they "walk in two worlds." The cultural processes that are employed by a small number of Alaska Native students suggest that the "two worlds" metaphor is deceptive and that a more holistic, nuanced sense of cultural identity can promote youth resilience in response to sociocultural differences and difficult life events that Native students experience in college.