The focus of the present study is the narratives of hope(lessness) of students from a community pre-university course. The objectives consist of investigating how they construct their narratives of hope(lessness), the identities of themselves and others, and the meanings they attribute to the course and education, in a national context adverse to educational agendas. From a theoretical point of view, the research is anchored in Contemporary Applied Linguistics, in its non-disciplinary and critical aspect, together with Narrative and Identity Studies, including collective ones. The concepts of narratives, hope and identities are mobilized in line with the conception of language as discourse and in conjunction with social practices. Using a qualitative and interpretive methodological approach, interviews carried out with five young people and adults who studied in a community pre-university course are analyzed. There are three major themes in data analysis: inequalities, demotivation, and hopelessness; cultivating hope; community pre-university course and attributed meanings. It is clear in the interviews that hope is very present in the narratives. The research participants point out how inequality, lack of opportunities and deficient public education contribute to hopelessness and demotivation. The (co)constructed identities are of resistance and project and include the collective. The community pre-university course, for them, is a driverfor a promising and hopeful future, to the point that some now wish to act as volunteers in the project. Hope, then, continues.