I am Alaska Native. I am Tlingit and Haida. I will be the first in my biological family ever to attend college. I was taken into the foster care system at the age of 2, and was adopted into a non-Native family at the age of 7. During the adoption process my Tribe told my adoptive family to identify any Alaska Native friends they had who could mentor them in raising an Alaska Native. My parents thought that was great advice, and have followed through on that. I have grown up in a non-Native family, but my adopted family has always encouraged me to be connected to my culture and my heritage, getting me involved in every activity they could through my Tribe. Over the years I have taken Haida language courses through the Tribe, and have taken two years of Alaska Native language in high school. I have taken weaving classes both through the Tribe and through the high school. I've learned to weave cedar bark, and will be wearing the cedar bark hat I wove as part of my graduation attire. I've participated in culture camps and cultural activities that have taught me how to harvest Native foods, and how to prepare them. I've learned how to make drums, and how to draw formalize design. Most recently, I have taken an internship on regalia making through the Tongass Tlingit Cultural Heritage Institute. My mentors through this internship, Richard and Janice Jackson, have taught me more about my heritage, even including who some of my ancestors are. It has been a great experience to be able to learn more about my heritage, and where I come from. Also, through this internship I completed a vest which I designed myself; I'm hoping to wear my vest at my graduation. My heritage means a lot to me. It's who I am, and where I come from. My involvement with my Tribe, and with mentors I've developed through the Tribe, has reinforced for me how important my culture and heritage are. I am proud of who I am. I am planning to go to college and get a degree either in counseling psychology or education. I would like to work with kids. As an Alaska Native male, particularly one who was in the foster care system, I see the role of mentors as being tremendous. I know that I wouldn't be who I am today without the mentors I've had, both the Alaska Native mentors and non-Native mentors. I plan to go into either the psychology or education fields because I would like to be a mentor to other kids, particularly Alaska Native kids. According to the National Working Group on Foster Care and Education, less than 20% of kids who have been in the foster care system attend college, and only between 2 - 9% graduate from college. I will be in that 2 - 9%!