Kennedy Posey

Northern Arizona University

Personal Statement/ Autobiographical Essay
Being the oldest sibling amongst my family. I was the one to set the example for my

younger family members. I didn’t grow up as fortunate as other individuals. As a young

Indigenous woman of the Navajo, Hopi, and Apache tribe, I was always told that if I wanted a

better life that I needed to pursue a higher education. Especially today, in order to get a job you

should at least have some sort of educational background. Also, as I got older, I realized that not

everyone has the same opportunities to pursue and education, especially on the reservation. I

went to school on both the reservation and local cities, like Flagstaff. My family wanted me to

have a better education, so they would drive an hour everyday to go from Tuba City to Flagstaff.

As I got to high school, I was lucky enough that Flagstaff High School had a dormitory for

individuals who live on the reservation. This gave people like me the same opportunity as any

other person. Through my academic years, I was always an honor student and received awards

for my academic achievements. Not only was my motivation to be a role model to my siblings,

but I recently had a baby. Now, I am a single mother who is raising my son to create a better life

for us. This was another obstacle in my path, yet of this it made me more determined to get a

4-year degree at Northern Arizona University.

My degree at NAU is Criminal Justice/ Criminology with a minor of Applied Indigenous

Studies (AIS). At the beginning my minor was originally environmental science. Then one day I

got an email about AIS classes. I was immediately interested and so I added these classes to my

class list. After that I fell in love with the idea of having AIS as my minor. I chose both of these

studies because I felt like we need more educated individuals on the reservation that have a better

idea of laws between border towns and nearby reservations. For example the issue of alcohol on
the reservations and how we as a community can resolve this issue and come up with solutions if

we actually take the time to talk about this problem.

This area is important to me because alcohol has always been an issue with my family.

Alcohol has majorly took a toll on my family. I had family members pass away due to alcohol.

The Navajo Nation and other indigenous communities do not pay enough attention to this major

issue. If they did, then I believed they would do more into helping our people with this major

alcohol problem on the reservation. Especially on how since alcohol is illegal on the reservation,

it causes individuals to have to travel to nearby border towns and they would end up being

publicly intoxicated on the street. Due to that it causes people to come up with the stereotype of

the “drunken indian.” Not only that, but because of how alcohol is illegal on the reservation, it

also causes underage drinking. That’s another problem we have on the reservation. And that’s a

major concern because that’s when teenagers start drinking at a young age and then they start to

make it a habit. I honestly have had lost friends because of their decision to drink and making

stupid decisions. And that’s another reason I have a problem with alcohol issues because I knew

these people and I did grow up with these individuals.

What excites me about graduating overall is that I will be the first in my family to have a

degree and I am able to use to do something I will enjoy for the rest of my life. I am excited to

support my son and I. And I am glad that I can use my degree to help my local community and

be more involved.