Savanna
Crow
Pre-med, environmental health, and Crow studies major
Little Big Horn College

  Savanna (Crow) was raised in the traditional way among her people. Crow is her first language, and she keeps her culture alive by participating in the cultural ceremonies of her tribe, including hand games (she achieved the honor of being High Point Woman of the Center Lodge District Junior Hand Game team) and dancing in the traditional Crow style. As a junior in high school, Savanna was chosen from more than 60 applicants to travel to Uzbekistan to represent her tribe.

Savanna is an honor student at Little Big Horn College, where she is working on a triple major in pre-med, environmental health, and Crow studies. Savanna lived with her grandmother when she was a senior in high school, and watched her health deteriorate as she refused to take her medications, until she eventually died. The experience inspired her goal to become a pharmacist. Savanna plans to transfer to the University of Oklahoma for her pharmacy degree, and return to the reservation, where she wants to start a pharmacy outreach program, where pharmacists visit the elderly and ensure they are properly taking their medications.

Thomas
Blackfeet
Construction Technology major
Blackfeet Community College

Thomas says he always knew that school was his first goal in life. He wanted to go to college to build his knowledge and skills to ensure a successful life. His scholarship included enrolling in advanced classes throughout his academic career, and winning numerous awards and scholarships. He earned his first certificate in heavy equipment at Blackfeet Community College (BCC) and plans to earn his associate's degree in business there.

In addition to his studies, he has worked at BCC for a year and says he takes pride in seeing and helping the college to grow. His activities include working in the apprenticeship program at Blackfeet Community College , helping with events such as the Days of the Blackfeet, and the Sober Behind the Wheel group. Thomas earned Blackfeet Community College 's 2007-08 student of the year award.

Kristan
Tohono O'odham
Senior Business major
Tohono O'odham Community College

Kristan has been attending college for the past few years, but within the past two she has dedicated herself to attending full-time. This is no easy task, as she has a husband and three children, ages 14, 11, and 2. Because family life is so important to Kristan, she says she tries to structure her life around her family and be involved with her children's education as much as possible, because “I feel that this is the foundation of who they will become later in life.” She says by attending college, she is also trying to set the example of the importance of higher education to them. “I hope that they witness the hard work and sacrifices it takes to attend college AFTER establishing a family, whereas it seems to be more flexible to attend college right after high school,” she says.

Kristan is awaiting acceptance into the University of Arizona , where she will pursue a bachelor's and master's degree in business. She says she is “taking in all that I can” and is “loving every minute of it. I am amazed at what I am learning, and learning something new each day, especially in the area of O'odham culture and language. I think it is awesome that Tohono O'odham Community College has incorporated it into its curriculum. It gives me the opportunity to learn things that my parents didn't pass on.”

In addition to her studies and spending time with her family, Kristan somehow finds time to volunteer as a coach for co-ed t-ball and girls' softball. She is also the Parish Council President at her church, and sits on the board of directors for the San Solano Mission for the Diocese of Tucson.

Vincent
Paiute
Haskell Indian Nations University

Leadership is in Vincent’s student experience and his professional future. A senior business major from Bishop, California who is graduating from Haskell Indian Nations University this May, Vincent served on the student senate from 2006-07. But Vincent’s leadership skills have also been spent outside of Haskell networking, learning, and growing in federal internship opportunities.

Vincent has worked with the Small Business Administration in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and NASA. At the USDA, Vincent says, “They are the oldest and largest agency, and I was hired to develop and assess their office for communications policies. No matter how the administration changes, we have to be able to achieve objectives for additional planning.” At NASA, Vincent was responsible for team-building.

Back in Lawrence, Kansas this past semester, Vincent has been trying to promote leadership skills among his student successors for the up and coming classes. “The good thing about Haskell,” he says, “is that students come from all over the U.S. This way you get different points of view,” he says. And looking forward for his own future, he says he wants to go to law school, with an emphasis on Indian Law. He says that as a future leader of his own nation, he and others of his generation are learning the way things were, and they are “taking on the old ways of thinking to instill change, work with each other, and make things better.” This doesn’t mean that Native youth should abandon their culture, history, beliefs, and lifeways, he says. “When we don’t believe in our people, we lose our spirituality,” Vincent says.