By: Adakai Robbins

My experience at Harvard was a much unexpected one. Upon arrival, it felt very unfamiliar because of how different all the architecture is, as well as how different the people’s attitudes are over there.

People in that area seemed very polite and trustworthy, which gave me a lot more comfort.

It was all the same when I entered Harvard; the buildings looked like the set of a Harry Potter movie, but everyone felt honest and ready to learn. You can feel the passion and love that the students have for their learning at that school, especially when they brought in two students to discuss their experiences at Harvard.

I was surprised at how inclusive Boston was. You can tell that the college is doing its best to satisfy all types of people.

If there were a large group of indigenous students there, I’m sure that the college would try to figure something out to accommodate us the way they do to all the other cultures.

It takes one step at a time for us to have a strong community there, and I feel like if the Seminole Tribe had a strong community there then we would have an even broader range of connections to different types of people and resources that could support all of our genius youth.

Many of our youth want to change the world because they don’t like what they see around them. I am one of them, and these kids would never think that they could ever make it to a college like Harvard.

It is very disheartening to say that we think of ourselves on such a low level because we are more than what we have gone through.

Most of us come from families that are broken and dysfunctional, but that doesn’t mean we can’t go on to do wonderful things for ourselves.

Places like Harvard were made for us because everyone there is trying to improve the world, and our tribes’ youth is full of innovative kids who can do just that. All we have to do is just focus and believe in ourselves, but we don’t have to make it to a big college to get the things we want.

We are the unconquered; we are resilient in the flesh; we can change the world any way we wish, it just starts with you believing in yourself.

We may be a small part of the world, but our impact can be great with the help of inclusive places like Harvard that not only strengthen our minds, but also strengthen our community.