I'm especially grateful to be a recipient of the Gilman Scholarship, which supports students studying abroad, and to be a member of the Navajo Native American Tribe. I was greatly supported by tribal funds and tuition waivers for indigenous peoples. It was a great challenge getting here, but I learned you can achieve anything you want with work and a bit of stubbornness. There are so many opportunities, scholarships, and overseas study programs if you search and ask around, especially for low-income students.I write this for everyone thinking of studying abroad or doing their next big, risky thing, but especially for my partner classroom, which is also made up of Native American students. The hardest part of making things happen is the beginning, and don't ever think you can't go out and do whatever it is you want to do. Before studying abroad, my limited perspective and upbringing led me to believe that people were stuck in categories with separated opportunities depending on where they lived, their income, or skin color, and that I would never travel to another country, live anywhere other than my hometown, join a hiking group, or complete any other crazy idea I had thought was possible only for those smarter, "not from here", or with more money. In my travels, I've found home on the other side of the world. I've encountered men, women, and children who, while from a different cultural background, are just as kind and goofy as people at home, and just as imperfect and human, who will be there for you when you need it.
