When she was in seventh grade at Ignacio Middle School, Amanda Henderson became fixated on the idea of going to an Ivy League school – somewhere far from the place she called home.
“I looked at it as a portal to the world,” she said.
Henderson ended up attending Duke University, the private research university in Durham, North Carolina.
Technically, it’s not Ivy League – but it might as well be. Henderson graduated in the spring with a bachelor’s degree in political science and international relations.
In many ways, college did serve as Henderson’s portal to the world.
She studied Arabic for five semesters and spent time abroad in Morocco and Egypt. Her capstone project involved direct work with North Carolina’s refugee community. And simply living on the East Coast opened her eyes to a different part of the country.
Talking about her time at Duke, it’s clear she embraced the opportunities far from La Plata County.
But the experience also deepened her appreciation for home.
Like Fort Lewis College, Duke has its own legacy connected to Indian boarding schools that operated across the U.S. in an attempt to assimilate Native Americans and sever their ties to their cultures.
The university’s predecessor, Trinity College, ran a Cherokee Industrial Indian Boarding School from 1882 to 1887.
Learning that – and navigating the university’s complicated history – was something Henderson, a member of the Lakota tribe, said she hadn’t expected. Especially when she looked around and saw far fewer Native students than she was used to seeing at home.
“It was a big shock, finding how many people were like, ‘I didn’t know you guys still existed,’ or ‘I didn’t know you had normal houses or normal jobs,’” she said. “It was insane.”
In a freshman-year class, a discussion about a documentary on the Standing Rock protests revealed just how wide that cultural gap could be as many of her peers expressed disbelief that Native people in the film had cellphones – and law degrees.
After that, Henderson began thinking more deeply about the lack of support for Native students, even at Duke, a school with a vast amount of resources and wealth.
She got involved. Eventually, she became president of the Native American and Indigenous Student Alliance.
“It felt nice coming from this area and knowing that I’m not as alone as I felt at Duke at times,” she said. “Knowing that Fort Lewis had a similar history, and knowing I had people at home supporting me, and that I had this community to advocate for – even at Duke – that was encouraging.”
Aside from her connection to her tribal roots, much of her approach to college stemmed from how she grew up.
During her time abroad, she focused on building close relationships with the people she met, which she credits to her upbringing in Ignacio and its tight-knit community.
“Looking back, I really appreciate the close relationships I got to build with my teachers and the community,” she said.
Now, she’s back in Ignacio while she figures out her next step, likely applying to a masters program in International Relations, Henderson said.
Leaving home yet again is the likely outcome, and Henderson is more hesitant to be excited about the thought of leaving than she would have been in high school.
“I’m a little nervous about having to leave home again. It’s kind of bittersweet still, every time I have to leave,” Henderson said. “It sounds so cliché, but there’s nowhere like home. It’s so nice, coming home and seeing the mountains again instead of just flat. It’s a special feeling, I guess, being at home.”
Bea Valdez, Henderson’s mother, is extraordinarily proud of Henderson’s accomplishments.
“It’s just been an amazing journey for her the whole way through,” Valdez said. “And to finish – it was pretty inspiring for me.”
As one may expect, Valdez is her daughter’s biggest supporter.
She has countless stories about Henderson’s academic achievements throughout middle and high school.
In one, she recalled a middle school essay that a teacher said was written at a college level. Valdez immediately assured the teacher it hadn’t been plagiarized – though the teacher hadn’t suspected that in the first place. It just wasn’t out of the ordinary for Henderson.
While Valdez is effusive in her praise for Henderson’s work ethic, and studious nature, Henderson herself is much more understated about her entry into a school that endows its matriculants with a certain level of academic and intellectual regard.
It’s possible for anyone, Henderson said.
She worked hard in school, but her academic and extracurricular efforts weren’t done with a calculated eye on college admissions.
What may have set her apart, she said, was the simple fact that she took the leap: she applied, visited campuses, and believed there was no reason she couldn’t achieve her goal.
“Ignacio is such a unique place. Anybody from here, anybody from the region, has a lot to offer wherever they go – including at an Ivy League school. I would say Ivy League schools need more of the Four Corners area within their halls.”
jbowman@durangoherald.com
