LARAMIE, Wyo.—Trivia Afraid of Lightning has given herself the task of being a role model to younger minority students. That means never giving up at the university level and showing that obtaining a college degree is always possible.
"There is always somebody watching us and when we give up, they will give up," Afraid of Lighting said.
But that is something Afraid of Lightning, 30, hopes will never happen. She wants to speak to students and give speeches, like she did here at the University of Wyoming on Jan. 24. When she speaks, she hopes to keep the students motivated and strong.
"If I can help one person to change their life and do positive things, then I'm satisfied," Afraid of Lightning said.
Afraid of Lighting is a tribal member of the Miniconjou Band of the Cheyenne River Sioux and was a guest speaker at the University of Wyoming during its seventh annual Martin Luther King, Jr., Days of Dialogue Celebration. She was part of a panel of students discussing the challenges of returning home after college.
Sophomore Maria Simental, who was also on the student panel, said she listened to Afraid of Lightning and said motivational words from students like her are needed. She said it helped to boost morale among the American Indian, Hispanic, Asian and African American students at the university.
"She was amazing," Simental, a 20-year-old business administration student, said. "She knew what we were going through but more in depth. ... She was really inspirational."
Afraid of Lightning talked about the different struggles she's faced and overcome in nearly obtaining her degree. She said that during her senior year of high school, at age 18, she got pregnant and dropped out of school. Doors began to close for her.
"I was told all my life that you can't do it," Afraid of Lighting said. "It would burn me up, but something inside of me would not give up. God kept me from not giving up."
Her determination has brought her to the eve of graduating from Oglala Lakota College, located on South Dakota's Pine Ridge Reservation, with a bachelor's degree in literature and communication.
When she first started school, all she wanted was a certificate to help her land a secretary's job, but she began to see that the dream was bigger, she said.
"I thought, ‘Wow,'" the mother of two said. "I can make good of myself."
Being part of the student panel and hearing about what the students have to go through stood out in her mind: struggles such as being a first-generation student and wondering if returning home after graduation would be possible.
"They (the students) have a drive to change a lot of things but they are unsure of themselves," she said. "Just because you are a student doesn't mean that you can't implement change in your community."
Patterson Yazzie, Navajo, who also took part in the panel, talked about ways to help students know that there is help and support for them.
"It's as simple as opening up your office and letting them make a phone call or fax," Yazzie, who is a web graphic design manager with the American Indian College Fund, said. "All they need to do is reach out."
Getting her master's in public health is something that Afraid of Lightning said is in her future. She said the University of Wyoming made such an impression on her that it is on her list of colleges she is looking into. In the next few years, she wants to continue touring the nation giving motivational speeches and, one day, to start a mentor, self-esteem and abstinence program for young people.
"People all over the world deal with self-esteem issues and a pill can't fix it," Afraid of Lightning said. "I see it (the program) all over the world."