I grew up in a predominantly white town I was one of the few colored students in my public school classroom until High School. I faced racism at 7 years old from classmates and my mother told me that because my skin is a different color I might be treated differently from everyone else. After that experience, I kept to myself and felt afraid that something like this could happen again. Ever since my first experience of racism, I learned to push it behind me because strangers' hateful words to me won't affect me since they don't know me. I thought I would never have to experience racism in a place I considered a safe space but that soon changed during my Junior year of High School. I was called a "Redskin" by one of my best friends for many years and felt devastated. I felt as if my experiences before didn't affect me at all until this one. She called me a "Redskin" at Cross Country practice and the majority of the girl's team heard her call me that and apologized to me the next day. I didn't know how to handle this situation since it was from someone that I have known for years and trusted. A couple of days later after practice, I tried educating her on why it was wrong to call me a redskin but she blew it off as if what she did to me wasn't important and she thought it was a joke. I was irritated by that and decided I shouldn't surround myself with people that think it's okay to say racist comments and think it's funny. This experience helped me in many ways because it opened my eyes to see that racism could happen anywhere and that these comments could come from anyone. This was an obstacle to me because I remember how so many people were negative about Natives and would tell me how Natives don’t make it in life. I want to prove to those people that Natives can do anything they set their minds to. Post Graduation I intend to work with law enforcement and help protect Indian Country and help put an end to the Missing And Murdered Indigenous Women/People. The Missing and Murdered Indigenous people have affected thousands of families in the United States and Canada. I would also like to help Native youth know that they can go to college and that they can make a life for themselves. Growing up I thought that because of the color of my skin, I wouldn't be able to succeed like my white peers because usually, that's all you see on a college campus is other white students. As I got older, I realized that I may have a different skin color but I can still achieve anything no matter what comes my way. I want to advocate for the low-income Native youth and to let them know that they can go to college and that they can do amazing things with a degree that will help not only them and their family but also help Indian Country by getting more Native people into office, getting the job position that they worked hard for and getting more qualified people into the workforce.

As an Indigenous woman, I have spent all my life giving back to my community in so many ways. I've been part of many Indigenous youth organizations throughout my life and with each organization, I was able to give back to other Indigenous youth such as donating/giving away school supplies, after school tutoring, and volunteering at elementary school outreach events where we would talk about the importance of staying connected to our cultures. I also spent time volunteering at my local Indian Health Services hospital, I would help with the annual back to school celebration that they would host. I felt that this was important not only for myself but also for my community, it's important that we give back to those that not only helped us but also shaped the person that we are today. To me, being an Indigenous woman in a predominantly white college it's important that I remember where I came from and remember what my ancestors did for me to have this opportunity to succeed.

My name is Coral Douglas and I am 20 years old. I live in Norman, Oklahoma with my Mom, Dad, Brother, and little Sister. I am a member of the Comanche Nation of Oklahoma but also identify with the Kiowa, Apache, Cherokee, Creek, and Seminole. Growing up I didn't have it easy compared to all my other classmates. I remember growing up in a predominantly white college town where I was one of the few colored students in my public school classroom until High School. I faced racism at 7 years old from classmates and my mother told me that since my skin is a different color I might be treated differently from everyone else. After that experience, I kept to myself and felt afraid that something like this could happen again. Ever since my first experience of racism, I learned to push it behind me because strangers' hateful words to me won't affect me since they don't know me. I thought I would never have to experience racism in a place I considered a safe space but that soon changed my Junior year of High School. I was called a "Redskin" by one of my best friends for many years and felt devastated. I felt as if my experiences before didn't affect me at all until this one. She called me a "Redskin" at Cross Country practice and the majority of the girl's team heard her call me that and apologized to me the next day. I didn't know how to handle this situation since it was from someone that I have known for years and trusted. A couple of days later after practice, I tried educating her on why it was wrong to call me a redskin but she blew it off as if what she did to me wasn't important and she thought it was a joke. I was irritated by that and decided I shouldn't surround myself with people that think it's okay to say racist comments and think it's funny. This experience helped me in many ways because it opened my eyes to see that racism could happen anywhere and these comments could come from anyone.

My senior year of high school was quite chaotic to say the less, I graduated from the class of 2020 which meant I graduated during a pandemic. Although it wasn't ideal for me to graduate during that circumstance I still made the best of it. As an Indigenous woman, I knew that it was important for me to graduate and go to college. It was special for me because I was able to walk across the stage and see my family smile and cheer for me. It was more special when I saw my great-grandmother in the stands cheering for

One experience that helped shaped part of who I am today goes back to high school. In high school, I was part of my high school cross country team. I thought I would never have to experience racism in a place I considered a safe space but that soon changed my Junior year of High School. I was called a "Redskin" by one of my best friends for many years and felt devastated. I felt as if my experiences with racism before didn't affect me at all until this one. She called me a "Redskin" at Cross Country practice and the majority of the girl's team heard her call me that and apologized to me the next day. I didn't know how to handle this situation since it was from someone that I have known for years and trusted. A couple of days later after practice, I tried educating her on why it was wrong to call me a redskin but she blew it off as if what she did to me wasn't important and she thought it was a joke. I was irritated by that and decided I shouldn't surround myself with people that think it's okay to say racist comments and think it's funny. This experience helped me in many ways because it opened my eyes to see that racism could happen anywhere and these comments could come from anyone. It helped me realize I could use my voice to help bring awareness to ongoing issues that Indigenous face especially those that live in predominantly white areas. I started to advocate for Indigenous people by creating an Instagram page that is dedicated to bringing awareness to problems Indigenous people face on a daily basis and hope that one day my people can feel safe.

I grew up in a predominantly white town that I was one of the few colored students in my public school classroom until High School. I faced racism at 7 years old from classmates and my mother told me that because my skin is a different color I might be treated differently from everyone else. After that experience, I kept to myself and elt afraid that something like this could happen again. Ever since my first experience of racism, I learned to push it behind me because strangers' hateful words to me won't affect me since they don't know me. I thought I would never have to experience racism in a place I considered a safe space but that soon changed my Junior year of High School. I was called a "Redskin" by one of my best friends for many years and felt devastated. I felt as if my experiences before didn't affect me at all until this one. She called me a "Redskin" at Cross Country practice and the majority of the girl's team heard her call me that and apologized to me the next day. I didn't know how to handle this situation since it was from someone that I have known for years and trusted. A couple of days later after practice, I tried educating her on why it was wrong to call me a redskin but she blew it off as if what she did to me wasn't important and she thought it was a joke. I was irritated by that and decided I shouldn't surround myself with people that think it's okay to say racist comments and think it's funny. This experience helped me in many ways because it opened my eyes to see that racism could happen anywhere and these comments could come from anyone. This was an obstacle to me because I remember how so many people were negative about Native and would tell me how Natives don’t make it in life. I want to prove to those people that Natives can do anything they set their minds to. My educational goal is to graduate with a bachelor's in Forensic Science and Technology, I plan on interning with the Federal Bureau of Investigations during the summer leading into either my junior/senior year of college. I also plan on working with local Indigenous communities/law enforcement to help combat the ongoing missing and murdered Indigenous women epidemic.

Growing up in Norman, Oklahoma, I was one of the very few Native girls in my school district. I was also one of the very few Girls of color that would go to science camps/conferences/competitions. Growing up I knew I wanted to do something in science but I wasn't sure what it was, I thought I wanted to go down the engineering road but then I didn't feel a connection to it. When I was younger I would watch all the true crime shows with my parents, I was always amazed by the way the crime scene investigators could find little clues about the crime scene and how one thing can solve the case. I was fascinated by the Forensic teams and how their work was important when solving any case, how a piece of hair or fingerprint could help solve the case. In high school, I took a forensic science class, and in that class, we would have to solve cases, watch videos based on true crime, and how the forensic team would go into a crime scene and find as much as they could. I fell in love with that class and started looking more into the Forensic science field, I wanted to go to college and double major in Forensic Science and criminology. Honestly, the biggest influence in my life and why I wanted to go into the Forensics field was that an issue that is ongoing in the Native community. For many years the Missing and Murdered Indigenous women epidemic has been growing more and more every year and many of these cases remain unsolved. Growing up as young Native women were hard when I lived in a town that was predominantly white, in high school, I did a project on Missing and murdered Indigenous women as I was presenting a lot of the male students in that class found my presentation boring and was saying stuff like “no one cares about some dead brown girls” or “at least some dude had some fun” and my teacher didn’t do anything to stop them. This was the moment I knew that I needed to make a difference not only for my Native community but also change how this country treats Native people. I hope to bring more awareness to the issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous women and to make sure people know that Native people still exist. As a Forensic Scientist, I want to work with law enforcement and help bring justice to many Indigenous families that have been impacted and bring hope to my Indigenous communities.

I am an Indigenous Women and currently putting myself through college. In my community, many Indigenous women don’t graduate college, and most of the time when Indigenous women go into college, there are hardly any Indigenous women in STEM programs. I plan on double majoring in Forensic Science and Criminal Justice so I can help my community combat the ongoing Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. This issue has been affecting the Indigenous community for many years and continues to get little attention in the media. I want to change that and help my people, especially my fellow Indigenous women/girls, and getting a degree in Forensic Science and Criminal Justice would help me make a change in the world. This scholarship will help me achieve this goal without having to worry about the cost of my education.