The 22,500 Indigenous students attending an Indian boarding school sacrifice living with family to essentially grow up in an institutional setting, in part to receive free education but also because they believe in the school's promise of a bright future. In this context, students' affective expressions and experiences are moulded by an all-enveloping institutional environment. The article relies on two concepts, 'institutions of hope' and 'total institutions' to examine the institutional context in which students shape their aspirations and weigh the balance of sacrifice and opportunity. Ethnographic data were collected through on campus observation, visits to students' villages, and interviews with former and current students, parents, teachers, administrators, and visitors. Additionally, institutional messaging on social media and the school's website was analysed. The data paint a picture of how, within this institutional context, sacrifice is justified in pursuit of aspirations, and hope for a better future through education is internalised.