Author: Michelle Samantha Polasky

1) To help distribute our book, Native Youth Survival Guide to Preparing for College, I can commit to sharing the information with my community and native youth at my school. I think it will be a great thing to spread in my reservation because many of the students need these guidelines and advice. They need the motivation to finish high school and go to college.

2) I will share this info/book at my school in our Oksale class; oksale means teacher in Lummi language and the class is for native youth. Most likely with a presentation and if possible, hand out copies of the book or give them a link to read it online. I will also encourage them into applying for the pipeline next year by sharing how I like the program and how it has helped me these last 2 years. And by sharing it with the community I can post the information on our community page on Facebook.

1) What is the “common application” and how is it helpful when applying to college?

The common application is an online website that helps you find and learn more about colleges that you think you want to go to.

2) What do students need to do to prepare to fill out the common app?

Students need to know what major they have in mind, what career they wish to have and what colleges they have in mind to prepare for the common app.

3) Why is it important to research colleges before you apply?

Its important to research colleges before you apply because the college may not be the college you want. Or the college you apply for might not have the major you want. So researching a college before you apply is always great, just to get every information that you need.

4) Why is it important to write a strong college essay?

It’s important to write a strong college essay because this is the biggest factor that will push the college into considering accepting you. This will determine whether or not you are the right student for that college.

6) What are some tips for writing a great college essay?

Tips to write a great college essay:

Be honest about what you write, do not lie about anything

Make sure you are expressing your true self and thoughts

Meet the requirements of the essay and even more

Go above and beyond with it, but not too much

Don’t babble, stay on topic

7) What are some tips for telling your own story that will engage the reader?

Tell your story in a way that keeps the reader interested. Be yourself. Try not to make It boring, maybe pick a point in your life that you know is heart-moving, interesting, or exciting.

I think that my language is a very important aspect of Indigenous Culture that prepares me to live a successful and meaningful life because it will help me stay connected to my culture and ancestors during ceremonies and gatherings; by understanding what the elders are saying.

Cultural Knowledge and Participation in ceremony helps to prepare me for college by allowing me to find myself and focus on what I want to do with my life. In ceremonies I feel like I know myself more.

After I’ve got to college, I will bring back my knowledge and education to help my community in any way that I can. Like becoming a doctor, nutritionist, teacher, etc.

1) At Wishtoyo I made an abalone necklace. It took almost 3 hours to finally get it finished, but it was totally worth it because its beautiful and it will be a souvenir of the village forever. I loved the time making it, from peeling the bark from the branch, to sanding down the abalone shell. I’m looking forward to keeping it for a very long time and remembering the Chumash People and the time I spent at the village. ❤

2) What stuck with me the most is when all of the elders had referred us to the future generation, the future leaders. Its true, it made me think of how much we can change the future. With our youth and determination, we can change how things are today, for the better. Like bringing the artifacts in the museums home to where they belong. We will grow up to make a difference because we are the future generation and the future leaders of the Indigenous People.

3) I loved the whole entire time at WIshtoyo. I loved making the necklace, seeing the beautiful view from the beach, swimming, sitting around the fire and telling stories, singing, dancing, bonding, and even though the aps had a lot of ants, its still cool and a great experience sleeping in them. My absolutely favorite cultural experience of the trip would have to be making the necklace. Learning the new skill and how their people strip bark compared to how we do up north was amazing. ❤ ❤

1) Its important for Native Youth to tell their own stories because they deserve to have their words, opinions, truth, and stories heard. Its important for them to fell at home in our society, to feel accepted for who they are and to not feel like outcasts because of who they are or what color their skin is.

2) I think that the story of how a lot of Native Youth grow up in should be told. As in, their home life, childhood struggles, what they’ve been through, and the pressure of trying to go to college when maybe they don’t have the support or financial aid to help them get there. Also about their education, many Native Youth may not have the resources or material to get through school, like books, pencils, paper, calculators, binders, notebook, etc. These obstacles can persuade them to not finish school, not go to college and convince them to stop following their dreams.

3) Smoke signals is my favorite Native American movie. I love the story and how it was told. I like how the movie tells some of the truths about Native American lives and some of the struggles we face.

After I graduate I will go to Manhattan College in New York City. Students on their free time go and explore the city.

Saturdays in the City include:

1. Times Square
2. The Metropolitan Museum of Art
3. South Street Seaport
4. Statue of Liberty
5. Kayaking on the Hudson
6. Viewing the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center
7. Broadway shows
8. Sporting Events

After a long week of studying I would probably go out to a cafe and drink some good iced coffee, go to a museum, or go see a broadway show. So basically what they do on their free time is what I would love to do too. ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤

1) I really liked scraping the skin off of the acorns with Kyla, Nick, and Cece. It was funny and entertaining.

2) My job was to scrape the skin off of the acorns, stir the pudding stuff, and cut the kiwii-like-things. It was beneficial to a nutritious diet because they were healthy aaaand tasted good. but the pudding stuff was really different.

1) Now that I’ve been away from home for almost a week, I miss sleeping in, the cool weather, and my friends. I don’t sleep in that much, only until around 10-11. And even though I love warm weather, I do miss the nice cool 70 degree breeze at home.

2) Not being able to bring everything that I own makes it hard for me to be away from home, i love being away but I can’t fit everything in one bag haha.

3) I love traveling, getting out of my home, exploring and seeing new things. I always want to travel, I always want to be away from home. So just seeing other places other than Washington is great.

4) Today we went to Mt. Baldy and toured their land, sang songs, listened to songs, danced and just had a great time bonding. All of us girls from Lummi sang our national anthem for the Lummi Nation, The Flood Song. I had to try and remember the words because I haven’t sang it since last year. All-in-all it was peaceful, memorable and beautiful to go up to the mountain and meet new people and here their songs and culture.

1)  This is my favorite artifact from the Pomona College Museum of a very special woven basket. What makes it special is that someone took a lot of patience and love to not only weave the basket, but to add the feathers and shells around the top of the basket. This basket is for someone of a high honor. Although I admire the work of art, it really does make me wonder why this special basket that has a lot of time, love, and history in it, is just sitting down in a basement of a college museum? What happened to the owner? How did the college get ahold of this artifact?

2) I think that yes, Native culture and college education can go together, as in learning our language, and our ways. Just like how spanish, french, italian, and many more cultures are in college education. So why can’t Native culture be included in schools?

3) My day was very, very, very eye-opening. I’ve been to many Native American museums and I’ve seen a lot of artifacts from many different tribes around the country but I never thought about how they got there, why they’re there and if its right that they are there. I’ve never ever thought about those questions until today when we went to the museum with Bingo, (Joe Thorne), and how he was asking the lady about how the college got the artifacts and if they were given to them or not. After that, I began to realize that its not right that museums around the country have our culture locked behind glass, displaying them for people to see and not knowing the significants behind the artifact. I think that we, the new generation, should do something about this, put an end to museums making money off of what they took from us, and acting as if these works of art are history, extinct, gone, when in reality we are still here, we still make these beautiful objects, they are still alive, we are still here. So I vow to bring my opinion on this topic back to my community and make a difference, have my community realize too, that having these personal belongings rot away in a basement is not right. They should be in their home, their land, and their territory, where they belong. ❤

1) The only resource I can think of that can help me get to college is financial aid, supported by my tribe.

2) The Lummi Youth Academy is helping me prepare for college by motivating and helping me maintain good grades in school, getting me to school everyday, helping me sign up and apply for running start, and just supporting me each and everyday through anything. The pipeline program here at Pitzer also plays a big role in preparing me for college even though they are not community, I consider them friends/family. So a special shout out to you guys! ❤

3) I’m helping myself prepare for college by thinking ahead about what I would like to study, what my major is, and what requirements I need to do in order to go to college, etc.

4) I would help encourage my friends to go to college by explaining how college is needed in order to get far in life. Like getting a good paying job so that you can buy a house, a car, bills, and helping people. I would show them all of the good that comes from going to college and how its worth it to go the extra mile in school.

5) Today was another successful day, I really enjoyed going to Pomona College and learning about neuroscience and itty-bitty tiny microscopic worms. It was to see and meet people who were so interested in science, because I was never fond of science at all, hahaha. (besides my love for astronomy of course)