PROJECTS AND OUTREACH TO SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASE THE DRIVE OF YOUNG NATIVE AMERICANS TO ATTEND COLLEGE

Native Americans hold their land and its resources as close as they hold their culture and family identities. This connection with the land could be holding a key to increasing their numbers in higher education, specifically in the geoscience fields. Funded research projects meant to help Native Americans and the quality of their land and living conditions take place all over the United States. These projects, I believe, could also be implemented to helping younger students find the drive to want to go to college.

Specific projects that can be used as an example take place on the Pine Ridge reservation through South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (SDSM&T), and Oglala Lakota College. Both the OSSPEEC and NASHI programs strive to help matters such as the poor water quality, and lack of housing on the reservation; however, an emphasis also needs to be placed on leading the young. Introducing high school students to research and hard science that directly impacts their community can go a long way. Showing students that this could be a path to follow can lead to them helping and giving back to their community. This will also lead to a growth in the number of Native Americans interested in the geoscience related fields as well as in all higher education paths.

For those Native American students who have overcome the insurmountable odds they’ve faced to receive a higher education now have numerous opportunities to give back to their communities in ways they never thought possible. It also provides the opportunity for the student to inspire others to attend college in order help the cause and build leadership. There is an endless amount of outreach possibilities for these students. Every voice counts as seen when I started the outreach program at SDSM&T. With all efforts, whether it be inspired by a research project or just a voice reaching out, the number of Native Americans in the geoscience and all other higher education fields will rise.