Harvard Native: "I Am Not a Stereotype" Video & Being Native at ...

This summer we had the wonderful opportunity to hire two high school summer interns to work in our office. TaNeel and Summer had applied and been accepted to the Secondary School Program at Harvard which meant they would spend eight weeks on campus taking classes during the summer school session. As summer school students they were able to get a taste of college-life, being away from home, and learn firsthand what it means to be a Native college student.

Over the course of the summer TaNeel and Summer shared their experiences with us in the office. They talked about living in Pennypacker and Claverly, eating at Annenberg Hall, taking Public Speaking and Creative Writing courses, and also shared what it was like to be Native at Harvard and the ways it shaped their interactions with people.

We asked them to each write a blog post and share a bit about themselves with the idea that they could give other high school students an idea of what it would be like to attend Harvard, either as SSP students or as incoming freshman. Summer's post can be found here,??http://blog.harvardnative.com/2012/08/harvard-intern.html. TaNeel & Summer also approached us with a video idea,

"When Summer and I first started the project, we thought about how interesting it would be to research what Harvard students knew about American Indians.? As we know, Harvard students are known as the "cream-of-the-crop" when it comes to academics and will take on prominent positions as future leaders within our country. Through our research, we found that most people lacked accurate knowledge of First Nation People, which was disheartening, knowing that these people will be entering into the work force in various professions, where they will most likely encounter and service American Indian people.? In shining light on this lack of knowledge among the general student population on the Harvard Campus, we also wanted to utilize this opportunity to change student's predispositions towards American Indians. For some we were the first American Indians they had ever met! It's always interesting to see the change in their tune when we? broaden their perspectives, and an awesome feeling knowing we are providing them with a sound educational experience by bringing accurate representations to American Indians and the Harvard University Native American Program. It is our hope that this video blog will bring awareness to people all throughout the country.? We had a lot of heartfelt laughs and it was something we both enjoyed!"

Penamaya/Gineehayan!

TaNeel Real Bird

The result was this awesome video.


Summer and TaNeel will be applying to college this fall. We wish these talented young ladies all the best!

HUNAP

PS - When you both turn 21 we'll revisit the skydiving idea...maybe. :-)

Source: http://blog.harvardnative.com/2012/08/i-am-not-stereotype-video-being-native.html

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