Much has happened since my last post one year ago. I am currently a sophomore (second year) at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, which is 1,600 miles from home. I don't even know where to begin since life has been a whirlwind ever since those days long ago when I was confined to a hospital bed or the couch in my living room. I guess I will just spit out anything that comes to mind, since that's usually what I just do.

I am just wrapping up my third semester at Brown. I have not declared my concentration (what we call majors) yet, but I will be declaring Ethnic Studies, which is the study of race and ethnicity and intersecting identities (such as sexual orientation, class, ability, religion, etc.) geared more specifically in the United States. I will be focusing on indigenous peoples in North America. I am currently learning two languages: Spanish and German. I took Arabic for a semester, but boy-oh-boy was that one a toughie. I didn't agree with the department's ideology, so I do intend to pick Arabic up sometime in the next 80 or so years. There's always time! (And if not, I'll still be happy with what I'm doing now.) I am currently looking for some $$$ to help me afford the beginning of the learning of my tribal language, Lakota. Hopefully, I will be up at Standing Rock reservation in June for three weeks at a Lakota language seminar--fingers crossed!

I am supah busy at Brown with activism and jobs that intertwine. I am a Minority Peer Counselor and a Native American Heritage Series Programmer. I also participate in the University's main resource for students of color (called the Third World Center) as a member of its Student Advisory Board. Additionally, I am one of the leaders of the student group Native Americans at Brown (NAB). I do a lot in the Third World Center (TWC) community, so there's always something to do for me :) 

I love what I do here at Brown. Something unique to Brown found in very few places in both the US and the world is that we have an open curriculum, meaning the only requirements we have are those that our intended concentrations demand. There are no generals, which thankfully for me means NO MO MATH. Phew. This semester was particularly difficult for me because I became much more passionate about my activism and extracurricular activity rather than my coursework, which was a problem in that... I am a college student. So I had to learn to fix that quickly. One thing that has not changed is that I am continuously learning from my mistakes and preparing for the future. I'm going to get this thing called life down eventually. (Again, somewhere in the 80-something years I'm counting on.)

I have met the most wonderful, inspiring, passionate, caring, unique, like-minded, powerful, empathetic, and intelligent people here at Brown (NOT to say people I have previously met are not, but I just really want to compliment these people for whom I am immensely grateful for). I still find myself in some deep holes occasionally, but I always have someone I can turn to and that is something I learned does not happen everywhere. People I meet everyday, here and there, inspire me and I am glad that I'm from the Midwest bcuz I really do enjoy talking to strangers who become acquaintances and then friends. PEOPLE ARE JUST TOO BEAUTIFUL AND AWESOME. That's another thing that I've learned: while there are some ugly people out there, there are some jaw-dropping beautiful (internally and externally) out there that who can care for us and give us someone to care for in return.