Johanna – Day One of Knowledge

Hello, I would like to quickly introduce myself and let all of you get to know me just a bit. I am Johanna Osuna, an upcoming senior at Anahuacalmecac International University Preparatory of North America. Being in an indigenous school for the past thirteen years, I have always been taught the traditions, culture, and language from the Mexica People. I never really knew my own nation or people because both sides of my family are fully mexican and never considered themselves natives, but I recently discovered that in Sinaloa, Mexico there are three tribes; Yaqui, Pima, and Mayo Indian. So from now on, I considered myself those three tribes, but I will still continue to discover more and more about each tribe and get to receive information to understand more about my ancestors. 

Today on July 11, 2017, was my first day attending the Native Youth to College Program at Pitzer College. I was so excited to attend this program for the past two years, because last year I was not able to attend. Being here today, in just one day I can say that this program is going to be such a helpful resource to get myself into a great university but also learn about everyone’s culture and possibly share a bit about my culture. 

Today, we learned different exercises in the theatre room to get a bit more comfortable with each other even though some of us were still shy but others got really comfortable really quick. Our next workshop was with one of the elders from the program, Julia. During her workshop we created clapping sticks and got the chance to decorate our own. Next workshop was also with Julia, but in this workshop we got to present a bit about ourselves and share about one person in our life that we go to for love, support, and care. 

I am glad I have received this opportunity to connect with so many different native youth leaders and have a head start in my road to a higher education. I am excited to see what the rest of the program has planned for us and to meet and connect with these native youth leaders. 

always happy, Johanna Osuna