UEN Homeroom with Students from the Amerian Indian Resource Center
Podcast Share / April 5th, 2023
A couple of months ago I was asked by Katie Garrett, an associate director at UEN, to help a group of college and graduate students explore podcasting. These students were from the American Indian Resource Center and were developing a podcast to highlight the work of the AIRC. They also wanted to explore the issues facing American Indians who are in college or graduate school. We spent an hour or so together developing ideas, touring the studio, and recording their voices for the first time.
Once we finished the visit, I stayed to talk to Katie for a bit about a few ideas for the podcast. When I exited the studio, the students were still there buzzing about the possibilities. I approached them and we spoke for a minute, but I almost immediately became deeply distracted. A small herd of deer was nestled in a stand of evergreen trees not twenty feet from us. I pointed it out excitedly and we all gazed at the herd for a few moments. Something told me that we needed to talk to these students in more depth.
A few weeks later, in the midst of planning and executing UCET, Dani and I got the opportunity to speak with them. It is one thing to read and understand a statistic about a group, it is a completely different situation when you get the chance to sit down with them and explore the statistic in personal, biographic detail. Earlier this week I wrote about Sir Ken Robinson’s biography and how small conversations changed his direction in life. This conversation was in a similar vein; discussing Anisha and Leo’s backgrounds, their drive, and experiences to get to their own respective graduate programs was a wonderful experience. It shows proof of a key point of education: despite statistics and trends, individuals from any and all backgrounds can succeed, but also help others to succeed and grow. Check out the full conversation above or listen to it wherever you listen to podcasts. Check out the work of the American Indian Resource Center at the University of Utah here.
