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Taela Elliott

1,675

Bold Points

1x

Nominee

2x

Finalist

2x

Winner

Bio

I am a Native American youth advocate as well as very involved in my culture. I speak Shoshone and am a traditional jingle dancer. Culture is everything to me. I grew up as an athlete, playing basketball and volleyball my whole life and also receiving multiple awards in both sports. School is something that I have always excelled in as an A/B student and advanced classes while also always making honor roll and the presidents award. Currently I am in the top 10% of my class. I come from a single mom of three and while being low income with many adversities I have had to face to be an athlete and scholar, I have overcome a lot.

Education

Nevada State College

Bachelor's degree program
2023 - 2027
  • Majors:
    • Psychology, Other
  • Minors:
    • Psychology, Other

Valley High School

High School
2019 - 2023

Miscellaneous

  • Desired degree level:

    Doctoral degree program (PhD, MD, JD, etc.)

  • Graduate schools of interest:

  • Transfer schools of interest:

  • Majors of interest:

    • Psychology, Other
    • Psychology, General
    • Social Work
  • Not planning to go to medical school
  • Career

    • Dream career field:

      Mental Health Care

    • Dream career goals:

      Licensed Clinical Social Worker

    • Sales Associate

      American Eagle/Aerie
      2021 – Present3 years

    Sports

    Basketball

    Club
    2010 – Present14 years

    Awards

    • WODE Middle School All Star
    • WODE High School All Star
    • Nevada Top 15 Girls Class of 2023
    • MVP
    • All Star

    Basketball

    Varsity
    2019 – Present5 years

    Awards

    • Second Team All Conference

    Volleyball

    Varsity
    2019 – Present5 years

    Awards

    • MVP
    • Second Team All Conference

    Research

    • American Indian/Native American Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics

      Native American Nevada Youth Caucus — Youth Leader
      2020 – Present

    Arts

    • Nevada Native American Youth Caucus

      Computer Art
      2020 – Present

    Public services

    • Advocacy

      Nevada Native American Youth Caucus — Leader
      2020 – Present

    Future Interests

    Advocacy

    Volunteering

    Philanthropy

    Entrepreneurship

    Terry A. Greendeer Behavioral Health Wing Dedication Scholarship
    Winner
    Being Native American in today’s world can come with many struggles. From the many statistics placed on us, generational trauma, and living in two different worlds, there is a lot for younger generations to overcome. I am from the Te’Moak Western Shoshone tribe and was raised in a very traditional home while living in the city and traveling to the reservation for everything cultural. I played rez ball for eight years, am a part of the Nevada Native American Youth Council, where I have been able to advocate for many things, such as MMIW and cultural appropriation, and am also a jingle dancer. Seeing life on the reservation versus life in the city throughout my life allowed me to understand the struggles of both. My mom was brought up as a ward of Te’Moak, per ICWA, which allowed me to understand the importance of being raised within our culture among our youth and the mental health struggles that come from being in the system. Mental health has always been significant to me. I am currently double majoring in psychology and social work with the goal of intertwining my cultural traditions and beliefs with my degrees. I want to become a licensed clinical social worker, working with my people to make a difference for our youth. I want to be able to make a difference by helping Native youth be able to receive the mental health help they need while also being able to tie in our culture. Seeing a non-indigenous social worker can be challenging as they do not understand us on the same level. I want to be able to advocate for our youth and make a difference. In the future, I would like to be able to start a program for Native youth to provide them with a place to receive mental health help, resources and necessities, and also knowledge of our culture. Teach about our medicines, language, stories, traditions, and history. I would like to tie all of this in with mental health, with the most significant focus being our youth having a safe place to express their emotions and receive guidance. Overall I want to be able to make a difference for our people as a whole. It is very important to be understood and have someone to relate to and talk to that understands where you are coming from. No one truly understands us and our situations more than we do with each other. With not many Native Americans in the line of work to be social workers and psychologists I want to be able to use my culture with my career to make a difference for our youth and be an advocate for our people. By receiving my education and going into the career that I have chosen I am going to be able to make a difference for others and reach all of my dreams as well as be a role model for our youth.