Growing up my mother would tell stories about shimasaní (my grandmother) being strong, beautiful, and loving person. She carried the Diné (Navajo) culture, stories, and language that I never got to learn. Shimasaní grew up on the Diné reservation near a uranium mine that contaminated the land. The government and mining company did not provide adequate protection or alternative housing for people living within the dangerous levels of radiation. After drinking contaminated water for 17 years and having seven kids, her organs failed. The doctors wanted to do an autopsy to find out what happened, but my grandfather wanted to lay her to rest. My mother theorizes that she died from the contaminated water poisoning her body. Due to the boarding schools forced upon my people, shimasaní was one of the last people in my family to know Diné traditions. I was jealous of my friends and cousins who have grandmas and elders that would pass our Diné culture down to them; something that I yearned for all my life. After attending a climate change conference in my 8th grade year and listening to a presentation about how uranium is contaminating water; I knew then that I needed to bring justice to shimasaní by becoming an environmental scientist. During high school, I attended a research internship at Northern Arizona University called the Cultural and Academic Research Experience (CARE). For four years I did research on air quality, focusing on teaching and inspiring Diné elementary to middle school students about air quality and computer science. During this internship I learned that air quality has minimal research, especially on the reservation where there is uranium blowing in the air. It was then that I knew that I wanted to study air quality near uranium mines. I am now a student at the University of New Mexico (UNM) studying Environmental Science with a double minor in Political Science and Native American Studies. At UNM, I got the wonderful opportunity to research air quality near a uranium mine on Laguna Pueblo in New Mexico. Where I extract dust particles from sponges into a tube and then analyze them. I then must convey to the tribe using cultural teachings and language to convey the data to tribal members. With the research I am doing at UNM, is what I want to do with the rest of my life, but for the Diné reservation. No indigenous person deserves to lose their elders due to the fault of the government. So, earning this scholarship with help my dream of becoming an environmental scientist/ lawyer so I can bring justice for shimasaní with data and advocacy of reversing the effects of uranium mines.

I am growing up in a world where there are many negative stereotypes attached to Indigenous and Hispanic people. I was destined by others to live a life filled with diapers, poverty, suicide, and substance abuse. I have two communities that are precious to me; I live in Flagstaff, Arizona’s low-income, high minority community called Sunnyside, and my family resides in Leupp, Arizona, an isolated, small remote community on the Navajo reservation. Both communities struggle with having access to STEAM education. The “iTambien Lo Puedo Hacer! (I Can Do It Too!)” STEAM Fair was created by my mentor Oscar who showed me that persons of color do great things. He wanted to bring STEAM to SunnySide that has minimal educational opportunities and is often isolated from Flagstaff and labeled as the “ghetto”. Oscar wanted to change that stereotype by holding his fair at Coconino High School (CHS). Seeing what Oscar did inspired me to create my own STEAM fair and to continue his fair. Instead of having the fair at CHS, I decided to hold the fair at Killip Elementary where Oscar attended. At Killip, Oscar received stereotypical comments from a teacher that he will never be more than some construction worker like the rest of his family. He is now a junior at Columbia University. I also went to the same school and have received racist comments during class being called a “rez monkey”. Even with our negative experiences at Killip, it gives me reassurance that I need to change the narrative for all the other Killip minority students. I have organized this fair for the past two years. In those years, I have brought 22 local STEAM organizations to 400+ students who were shown that “I can do it too”. This is what the principal of Killip Elementary said to me about the STEAM fair. “On behalf of our students and families, THANK YOU! The community support is so greatly appreciated. You are AWESOME!” I was able to change the narrative of my elementary school, giving young students the chance to participate in STEAM when I did not have that opportunity. But I need to show my cousin Roger that he can do STEAM too because he is part of the future. I’m lucky to live in Flagstaff, AZ which has many STEAM opportunities, but 45 minutes away is a tiny, isolated town on the Diné (Navajo) Reservation where my family resides called Leupp. In Leupp, there is one gas station, two schools, and an abundance of low-income houses where there is no electricity, running water, internet, and educational opportunities. Every day, my cousin Roger plays with Legos on my grandma's floor, with no access to STEAM on the reservation. Seeing the need for education, I decided to bring the 1st Annual “Diné People Are the Future” STEAM Fair at Leupp Elementary School. After months of planning and emailing over 50 organizations, I was able to bring 13 STEAM organizations to Leupp for their first in-person event since COVID-19. Over 100 students and parents attended the event. When the parents came to pick up their students, they saw a plethora of opportunities, not only for their kids but for themselves. As I was walking around, I saw both high school students and parents talking to Coconino Community College about how to continue their education. I also saw a group of students spending the whole two hours of the fair building the tallest pasta tower. What caught my eye was I saw my cousin Roger play with the same robot that I did when I was in 3rd grade.

I'm growing up in a world where there are many negative stereotypes attached to indigenous and Hispanic people, I was destined by others to live a life filled with diapers, poverty, suicide, and substance abuse. I have two communities that are precious to me; I live in SunnySide, Flagstaff, Arizona’s low-income, high-minority community. My family resides in Leupp, Arizona, an isolated, small remote community on the Navajo reservation. Both communities struggle with accessing science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) education. The “iTambien Lo Puedo Hacer! (I Can Do It Too!)” STEAM Fair was created by my mentor Oscar who showed me that persons of color do great things. He wanted to bring STEAM to SunnySide which has minimal educational opportunities, is often isolated from Flagstaff, and is labeled as the “ghetto”. Oscar wanted to change that stereotype by holding his fair at Coconino High School (CHS). Seeing what Oscar did inspired me to create my STEAM fair and to continue his fair. Instead of having the fair at CHS, I held the fair at Killip Elementary where Oscar went too. At this school, Oscar received stereotypical comments from a teacher that he would never be an architect but become a construction worker like the rest of his family. He is now a sophomore at Columbia University. I also went to the same school and received racist comments during class. I was called a “rez monkey” while my pencils and worksheets were thrown across the room. Even with our negative experiences at Killip, it reassures me that I need to change the narrative for other Killip minority students. I have organized this fair for two years, bringing 22 local STEAM organizations to 400+ students who were shown “I can do it too”. The principal of Killip Elementary Joe Gutierrez said. “On behalf of our students and families, THANK YOU! This event is complementary to our vision and goals. The community support is so greatly appreciated. You are AWESOME!” I changed the narrative of my elementary school, showing young students that you can be in STEAM. But I need to show my cousin Roger that he can do STEAM too because he is part of the future. I’m lucky to live in Flagstaff, AZ which has STEAM opportunities, but 45 minutes away is Leupp where my family resides. In Leupp, there is one gas station, two schools, and an abundance of low-income houses. There is no electricity, running water, internet, or educational opportunities. Every day, my cousin Roger plays with Legos on my grandma's floor, hungry for STEAM. Seeing this, I created the 1st Annual “Diné People Are the Future” STEAM Fair at Leupp Elementary School. After months of planning and emailing, I brought 13 STEAM organizations to Leupp for their first in-person event since COVID-19. 100+ students and parents attended the event. When the parents came to pick up their students, they saw many opportunities, for both their kids and themselves. As I was walking around, I saw both high school students and parents talking to Coconino Community College about how to continue their education. I also saw a group of students building the tallest pasta tower for two hours. What caught my eye was seeing my cousin Roger play with the same robot that I did when I was in 3rd grade. My STEAM fairs have taught me valuable skills to lead projects, direct a team, communicate, and coordinate with several organizations. These events helped grow my leadership skills and my confidence. I learned that if I can inspire one person, I've made a big impact.

I am growing up in a world where there are many negative stereotypes attached to indigenous and Hispanic people, I was destined by others to live a life filled with diapers, poverty, suicide, and substance abuse. I have two communities that are precious to me; I live in Flagstaff Arizona’s low-income, high minority community called Sunnyside and my family resides in Leupp Arizona, an isolated, small remote community on the Navajo reservation. Both communities struggle with having access to science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) education. In an effort to bring STEAM to my communities, I gave up my time and my mental health to serve the communities that I love. The “iTambien Lo Puedo Hacer! (I Can Do It Too!)” STEAM Fair was created by my mentor Oscar Landa-Samano and my robotics team who showed me that persons of color do great things. He wanted to bring STEAM to SunnySide that has minimal educational opportunities and is often isolated from Flagstaff and labeled as the “ghetto”. Oscar wanted to change that stereotype by holding his fair at Coconino High School (CHS). Seeing what Oscar did inspired me to create my own STEAM fair and to continue his fair. Instead of having the fair at CHS, I decided to hold the fair at Killip Elementary where Oscar went to elementary school. At this school, Oscar received stereotypical comments from a teacher that he will never be an architect but become some construction worker like the rest of his family. He is now a sophomore at Columbia University. I also went to the same school and have received racist comments during class. Constantly being called a “rez monkey” while my pencils and worksheets being thrown across the room. Even with our negative experiences at Killip, it gives me reassurance that I need to change the narrative for all the other Killip minority students. I have organized this fair for the past two years. In those years, I have brought 22 local STEAM organizations to 400+ students who were shown that “I can do it too”. This is what the principal of Killip Elementary Joe Gutierrez said to me about the STEAM fair. “On behalf of our students and families, THANK YOU! This event is complementary to our vision and goals. The community support is so greatly appreciated. You are AWESOME!” I have been able to change the narrative of my elementary school, giving young students the chance to be in STEAM when I did not have that opportunity. But I need to show my cousin Roger that he can do STEAM too because he is part of the future. I’m lucky to live in Flagstaff, AZ which has many STEAM opportunities, but 45 minutes away is a tiny, isolated town on the Diné (Navajo) Reservation where my family resides called Leupp. In Leupp, there is one gas station, two schools, and an abundance of low-income houses where there is no electricity, running water, internet, and educational opportunities. Every day, my cousin Roger plays with legos on my grandma's floor, with no access to STEAM on the reservation. Seeing the need for education, I decided to bring the 1st Annual “Diné People Are the Future” STEAM Fair at Leupp Elementary School. After months of planning and emailing over 50 organizations, I was able to bring 13 STEAM organizations to Leupp for their first in-person event since COVID-19. Over 100 students and parents attended the event. When the parents came to pick up their students, they saw a plethora of opportunities, not only for their kids but for themselves. As I was walking around, I saw both high school students and parents talking to Coconino Community College about how to continue their education. I also saw a group of students spending the whole two hours of the fair building the tallest pasta tower. What caught my eye was I saw my cousin Roger play with the same robot that I did when I was in 3rd grade: breaking the generational cycle of my family not going into STEAM. Through my STEAM fairs I have gained valuable skills. The skills to lead projects, direct a team, and communicate and coordinate with several organizations. These events helped grow my leadership skills and my confidence. I learned that if I can inspire one person, I made a big impact.

When people think of robotics, they only think of people building robots. Not in FIRST Robotics, because only robots build students, and with personal experience, I can say that it has built me and my family, even though I've never built one. One random day in 3rd grade, I drove a robot named Tompt. I would never think the encouraging words of one random high schooler saying, "Wow! You're really good at driving the robot!" would change my life forever. That high schooler was an AlumNut from my robotics team named The CocoNuts, in semi-rural Flagstaff Arizona, right next to the Navajo Nation, my tribe and people. Being an indigenous girl who lives in the poor neighborhood of Flagstaff, no one expected me to become an engineer. Only to be stereotyped as a "native" girl who will be an alcoholic, have lots of kids, and live on the reservation. At the time, I did believe them, I was ashamed to be indigenous up until I joined The CocoNuts. When I joined The CocoNuts at first, I wanted to be part of the program team but I found myself in the outreach team. A separate group where you never touch the robot, but students spread the word of STEAM. In my Sophomore year, I started to be proud of my indigenous heritage. At every event that we held, I always wore my regalia to represent my tribe. That lead me to be the FIRST Dean's List Award Finalist, the highest and only award given to a single student. That very same year, I became Flagstaff's STEM Student of the Year award (http://www.flagstaffstemcity.com/the-stemmys1.html) for 2022. Currently, I have created the "Dine People Are The Future" STEM Fair held directly in the Navajo Nation in my family's community. On the Navajo reservation, there are no STEAM opportunities. It's even harder to convince my family to expose STEAM to my cousins. What drove me to create the fair was to not only bring STEAM on the reservation, it was because I saw my younger cousin always playing with legos on my grandma's floor. I know that the spark of STEAM can be so easily put out, so when I saw him drive the same robot that I did, it made me cry. Thank you Tompt the robot for changing my life, and my family's life, and breaking the stereotypes that I've bounded myself to.