Greetings! My name is Antoinette Gallegos-Grandmother Spirit Slide and I am a proud member of the Chippewa Cree tribe. This letter is to help you get to know me a little bit better, and to express my interest in this scholarship. I have been married for twenty years, have five children and three grandchildren, who are my best friends. I walk the Red Road to recovery from drugs and alcohol for just about ten years now, and help others find their way out as well. My path in higher education has not always been an easy one. Balancing multiple classes while maintaining a 4.0 GPA, and still being present as a wife, mom and Nana has required discipline, resilience, and sacrifice. Despite these challenges, I have remained focused because I know that my education is not just for me-it is for my family, my community, and future generations. Because I was born into inter-generational trauma and alcoholism, I have seen firsthand the devastation it has caused in my family and with our Indigenous People. This has given me a passion to pursue a Bachelors Degree in Social Work and a career as a Substance Abuse Counselor. My greatest strength is having been in the same situations that many of the people that I will serve are currently in. Indigenous communities are overlooked and under-served and that needs to change. I hope to change this with my degree. There is a crisis of drug and alcohol abuse within tribal communities.There have become patterns of imbalance, abuse and inter-generational trauma. Upon graduating with my degree, I plan to return to Indian Country and work for the Chippewa Cree tribe so that I can bring my experience, strength, and hope to make a positive impact there. I believe that trauma-informed care will make a difference in the way we help people, as it creates a supportive, safe environment for healing and recovery, and most Native communities do deal with historical and inter-generational trauma within their own families. I believe that we need to focus on understanding and addressing the underlying root causes-generational and historical. I also believe that in order to make an impact within Native communities it is important to involve cultural practices like using Elders for guidance, traditional healing ceremonies, sweat lodges, smudging, singing, drumming, art creation, fasting etc. and I plan to bring that into my practice. I think that bringing culture into prevention, intervention, and treatment, is one of the best ways to make a lasting impact. I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking the time to read this letter, and for your consideration for this scholarship. This opportunity would not only allow me to finish my education, but would help me to continue to make a meaningful difference in my family and community.

When my daughter was three years old, our lives changed in a way that no parent is ever prepared for. She was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. and suddenly our world was filled with long hospital stays, doctor visits and uncertainty. Watching such a small child endure treatments and procedures, and eventually a bone marrow transplant, was the hardest thing I have ever experienced. There were moments when the fear felt overwhelming , but as a family, we held on to hope with everything that we had. During that time, my daughter was granted a wish through the Make-A-Wish Foundation. In the middle of everything we were going through, that experience brought light into our lives, and gave us all something to look forward to. Although cancer brought so many challenges, it also shaped us in many ways. It taught me resilience, patience, and how to advocate for someone I love. I learned to appreciate time, health, and family on such a deeper level. Today, my daughter is twenty eight years old and a mother of two beautiful children.Seeing her live a full life is something I once prayed for. This experience strengthened our family and gave me lasting gratitude and compassion for others. Recently I was given a creative writing assignment in my writing course and I decided to write about this experience. “Little Bald Girl” I sit here by your hospital bed As I quietly bargain with God. I am the one who deserves this Not you. I watch As the life and color subtly drain from your body A fluorescent yellow chemical is replaced. They tell me to be strong But they don’t know That in this life that is all I know how to do. But I need you to be strong too So let’s be strong together. More medicine Yet you get sicker and sicker. Curly luscious locks Have now come out in clumps. Catheter, feeding tube, oxygen and IV pump Attach themselves to you Always making some kind of obnoxious noise But you, my little bald girl You stay silent. In the play room Where all of the sick kids gather to play With their masks And their wheel chairs And all the things that they are attached to I see my little bald girl make friends Never to be seen again. I didn’t have the heart to tell her why. “Make-A-Wish” “Your daughter is terminal” They say. I sit in a board room Surrounded by white coats Like a deer in headlights. I make the decision right then and there to end my life Once little bald girl is gone. The excruciating pain burns, and aches And there is no relief in sight. They say they will grant her one wish Then we wish she was well. Can they do that? Little bald girl wants DisneyWorld. She smiles She laughs She dances in the castle with Cinderella In a light blue ballgown, glass slippers and a blonde wig She is not little bald girl She is Alexa. “Alexa” In your eyes Are rays of sunshine Because you have seen The Son. Snow and White Because of your heart Red and blue A double lumen. Bone marrow transplant Stem cells From Belgium Little bald girl Now a mama. I would deeply like to thank you for this opportunity and consideration.

Greetings! My name is Antoinette Gallegos-Grandmother Spirit Slide and I am a proud member of the Chippewa Cree tribe. This letter is to help you get to know me a little bit better, and to express my interest in this scholarship. I have been married for twenty years, have five children and three grandchildren, who are my best friends. I walk the Red Road to recovery from drugs and alcohol for just about ten years now, and help others find their way out as well. My path in higher education has not always been an easy one. Balancing multiple classes while maintaining a 4.0 GPA, and still being present as a wife, mom and Nana has required discipline, resilience, and sacrifice. Despite these challenges, I have remained focused because I know that my education is not just for me-it is for my family, my community, and future generations. Because I was born into inter-generational trauma and alcoholism, I have seen firsthand the devastation it has caused in my family and with our Indigenous People. This has given me a passion to pursue a Bachelors Degree in Social Work and a career as a Substance Abuse Counselor. My greatest strength is having been in the same situations that many of the people that I will serve are currently in. Indigenous communities are overlooked and under-served and that needs to change. I hope to change this with my degree. There is a crisis of drug and alcohol abuse within tribal communities.There have become patterns of imbalance, abuse and inter-generational trauma. Upon graduating with my degree, I plan to return to Indian Country and work for the Chippewa Cree tribe so that I can bring my experience, strength, and hope to make a positive impact there. I believe that trauma-informed care will make a difference in the way we help people, as it creates a supportive, safe environment for healing and recovery, and most Native communities do deal with historical and inter-generational trauma within their own families. I believe that we need to focus on understanding and addressing the underlying root causes-generational and historical. I also believe that in order to make an impact within Native communities it is important to involve cultural practices like using Elders for guidance, traditional healing ceremonies, sweat lodges, smudging, singing, drumming, art creation, fasting etc. and I plan to bring that into my practice. I think that bringing culture into prevention, intervention, and treatment, is one of the best ways to make a lasting impact. I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking the time to read this letter, and for your consideration for this scholarship. This opportunity would not only allow me to finish my education, but would help me to continue to make a meaningful difference in my family and community.