No Turning Back Now!

After weeks of inner turmoil I have reached a decision. I will be going to Brown!!!

Logical Reasoning:
There are a couple of reasons I chose brown. One is that it is only a year program. I really want to be in the classroom and working at my reservation as soon as I can. Going two years at another institutions would mean another year not teaching at Gila River. The other is that both Sara and Arisela (who were a part of IRT this past summer) are going to be in the teacher education program at Brown, which is something important for me. In fact, Arisela and I are going to be in the exact same program! Funding was another issue for me, all of my cost will be covered (tuition, health, living expenses, etc) with the help of their scholarship and my Gates scholarship. Furthermore, when I was thinking about the future and how I would like to return to school to obtain either an PhD, or EdD I would want want Gates to provide as much funding as possible. Gates funds based on years. So I have five more years of funding. If I used two years worth of funding then I would only have three more left, where as if I go to a one year program then I will have four years left of gates funding for a Phd or EdD.

Emotional reasoning:
I felt most comfortable at Brown. I had been hoping for that feeling of "just right," but every school I visited just did not have it. Before meeting anyone or seeing the school the feeling started to come. When I was at Columbia I was talking to a wonderful professor who said, "trust your gut!" My gut was saying Brown.

What this means:
I will be hopefully teaching one year from now. As excited as I am, I must confess I am a little sad. This summer I was suppose to share life with some good friends Josh Ware and Ryan Zoradi in Santa Barbara, but now I cannot. The program starts in mid-June which means no SB, no Joshy, no Zoradi. Also, I was so looking forward to working at a camp I have been a part of since second grade, Natives Camp. I will be missing that too.

Thanks:
I have to say thank you to all those who talked me through the deciding process: (in no particular order) Dr. Steve Cook, Christa Moya, Anne McCrae, Dad, Mom, Joshua "La Cueva" Cave, Pat Zumhagan, Gaston Luis Picone, Yolanda Sealeyruiz, Mike Allen, Whitney Laughlin, Reggie Wilburn, Asabe Palome, JoAnne Fallon, Leslie Godo-solo, IRT, Arisela, Sara, and the list goes on.