I feel like the highlight of my day was the theater activities we did earlier. The first activity we did was pretend like we are passing around a cat, fish and a match. the students and staff are suppose to act it out and pretend like they are carrying the item depending on what everyone says it is. Everybody was being very creative with their gestures and that only added to the realistic feel and atmosphere of the whole activity. We also met a woman who had a small icebreaker where we all share who “our rock” is meaning a supportive figure or role model in your life and a lot of people share information about their tribe and tribal affiliations and to me its personally interesting getting to know everyone and who they come from. and one last thing, food was another favorite part of today. the food is good.
Blog
My Glory Day
Greetings and salutations.
(Haha a 80’s reference)
Hello my fellow peers. You may not know me but…. I may not know you either. so its a win-win kind of situation. well let me explain, the reason why I came to this pipeline program was to learn more about marine biology and developing essays to send to colleges. My favorite part of the day is lunch and dinner. because I am always hungry.
Tuesday July 11th – Marisa Sosa
The First Day
So today was interesting and entertaining. I got to Pitzer for opening ceremony ON TIME (unlike last year). Ceremony was very medicinal and the energy in the room was super calm and relaxed which I think is amazing considering it was the first day for all of us. After catching up with old friends from last year, I went to my room and immediately unpacked everything and got settled. As you can tell, I’m pretty excited to be here again this year. Last year really changed me a lot as an Indigenous person, womyn and as an individual so to have the privilege to be back here and experience it all over again is just heavenly to me. Pure bliss. After packing my many, many things that I don’t need, I headed over to lunch and…well…ATE! Then I headed over to the theater room with my earphones blasting Electric PowWow Drum by A Tribe Called Red on, hands on hips, and looking at the murals painted across the campus. They all have such a true meaning to them. We did a lot of exercises and ice breakers in theater and i LOVE icebreakers because the feelings of awkwardness isn’t an individual thing. Everyone feels weird and cringe so yeah. Then we talked with our mentors and learned about eachother a lot. Tons of personal stories and amazing words of wisdom. We then went to make clapper-sticks with Auntie Julia Bogany and I had the privilege of talking with Sara about our lives and people we’ve come across with whom we both know so I’m happy I made a new friend. Then, was dinner and again, I ATE!! We met with Julia again and had a circle and talked about who our rocks in our life is. I chose my mom. I have never met someone who loves me so much in the world. She is my best friend and my everything. I love her. Then Alejandro sang the whale hunting song that he shared with me and it was awesome. I felt… empowered! And now, we’re blogging. I missed writing about my days. After this, me, Neeka, Huitzilin and Sylena are going to burn some incense outside and just chill and reflect on our day. So stoked!!
-Aolani
TLALOC’S First FIRST DAY Of Comfort
Today was completely unknown. I was unable to attend the first day of last year’s program. Today made me more comfortable than I already was. Sadly my family were not able to attend the orientation because of work, but their were there in spirit giving me positive energy. It was good seeing my friends and familiar faces from last year, but was good seeing new faces that I could now get know. It was good seeing Elder Vicente presenting the Nepuhuatzintzin, a tool that is very familiar to me which is being taught at my school. It was a good feeling to know that a part of my culture is going to implemented into program in the future.
The theater session with Professor Lu was a very fun and interactive experience that allowed to become more comfortable with the new students attending. Every activity helped me start to build bonds with the people I worked with and hopefully with the rest of people who in the program. It really excited me to do the mirror activity with someone who I hadn’t talked to or interacted with, so it was really heart warming to copy and lead with my partner. Then unfortunately my clapping stick broke and I ran out of time to make another one. But I became happy when we had a talk group and shared what our rock was. Everyone’s rock was about someone or something that gives them happiness or the influence that made them who they are today. Today was a really good First First Day.
Victor Munoz: No Longer Isolated
First moment i walked in Pitzer, I was unsure. Was new to this program, didn’t know lots of people except some old friends I knew from my old school, Anahuacalmecac. I loved the orientation that was held for us, we were introduced to our mentors and speakers we would have later this week and we danced to bird songs at the end of it as a blessed welcoming. After that we went to a theater workshop that was fun, I was familiar with some of the activities we did because I attend a performing arts school and its was very correlated to dance. Then we made our own Clappersticks, which was challenging but fun. After dinner we got in a circle and we all shared about our name, tribal affiliation and someone that is important to us, and for that I shared that my mom played a big role in my life because she birthed me and raised me through all the hell that was going on throughout my time and i love and appreciate her for putting up with me and teaching me much about my culture. And now I’m here, blogging, in a computer lab. I didn’t think for my first day here I would be talking to many people that I know and didn’t know, they all kept me all day in an optimistic mode. In the words of The Stylistics, “People Make the World Go ‘Round”.
Diego’s First Day
Today was very interesting, meeting new people and reconnecting with friends from last year. It feels awesome to be with people from different backgrounds. I am eager to learn more about their culture and traditions. Over the next few weeks I hope to learn things that I can take back with me and implement them into my life. Today we had a theater. During the theater class, I fell I made a connection with the people that I worked with. I feel that we need to enjoy our rest because we might not have lot of time to sleep, especially waking up early.
Benjamin’s first day!
My first day was filled with overwhelming feelings. Many new people i have met today, new cultures too. Everyone treated me nice and i am really enjoying my stay. The food was great, games were fun. Getting to know new people was the best part! I made some friends, waiting to make some more. I can’t wait for the future of the trip. 
DAY 1 -Alyssa
Hello,
My name is Alyssa Saige Flores. I am Tohono O Odham and pima. I am continuing on my 3rd time attending the program. I am most excited to go to Wishtoyo and participating in surfing. I am looking forward to learning about the common app, and all things I can grasp about college as I will be a senior next year. My mentor is Neeka she is super cool and I’ve learned that she is always happy. My favorite part of today was meeting my cousin for the first time today and bounding together as we made out clapper sticks. today has started off good and ended amazing I hope the rest of the trip will be the same.
Katherine’s last first day at Pitzer
Why I came back to the Pitzer- Native youth 2 college program:
The past two years that I attended Pitzer have been so inspiring, and it has made such a huge impact on my life. I met new people that I am sure I will be friends with forever. I learned new about new cultures and heard a different perspective on why education is so vital. The mentors and staff tried very hard to keep everyone so comfortable, and caused a change in my way of thinking. They made me want to research more college, plan it out early, and get used to dorm life earlier. Shelva was definitely a huge role model, in the beginning I was so afraid to write essays and express myself, now I am passing essays with 100% at my high school! Mati and Luhui became family and Wishtoyo became another home for me and I cant explain how important they are to me because it is so large. I am so blessed to be here for my senior year, this amazing program will continue to guide youth to their future filled with education. Lasting relationships were created, lessons and traditional teachings were learned, experience was widened, and my maturity level has increased. I grew as a human with this program, and I couldn’t be more ready for my future and college.
Thanks again to Gina, Scott, Mentors I have now and in the past, elders that taught me life lessons that I will cherish forever, and Pitzer college for giving me this opportunity to express my culture, spirit, self, and making education a priority for Native youth.
Hy’shqe (Thank you in Lummi Language)
Panamea (Thank you in Assiniboine Language)
Thank you
-Kat-
Kyle’s First Day
Today was a great day. I experience so much in one day. I was able to express myself through a group activity with the theater teach Mrs. Lu. Then we were able to make our own clapper sticks with the elder Julia. Then we had dinner. After dinner we gathered around the talking circle and shared who our rock in our life is. Then I was able to enjoy having some fun by playing a game of soccer with my peers. My most favorite thing that I did today was make my clapper stick. Today was a great day
nativeyouth2college.org 