Vanessa Barber

My name is Vanessa Barber and I am eighteen years old. I am an American Indian from the Navajo Nation in a small town known as Shiprock, New Mexico. I am full Navajo and I come from a small immediate family. My parents never attended college and my father was the only one supporting my family while my mother stayed home. My parents split when I was still young and it caused many financial problems for my siblings and I therefore, it held my sisters back from finishing college but to rather find jobs to help support us, since we did not live with our parents anymore. After this unannounced situation my aunt and grandma took us in and raised us on their own. Even though it was difficult I enjoyed living with my aunt and grandma because I was able to grow up on a ranch and it has taught me a lot of lessons that I use every day. After all of this had happened I was also able to use it as motivation to continue on with my life rather than to give up and my sisters have always pushed me to do well in school. Their motivation had payed off because I was in the top 10% of my class, I always had good grades, and my hard work has allowed me to continue my education. I was always unsure of whether or not I would go to college due to our financial incomes however my sisters and aunt would always tell me that they were going to make sure that I would go to college. In the end they were right because currently a Freshmen Undergraduate student attending Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma. I am currently majoring in Environmental Science with an option in Water Resources. My middle school science teacher introduced me to science fairs and I participated in them for two years while also having the opportunity to be a judge for a local science fair. My projects both dealt with microbiology and it included me either testing for water contamination and how effective bar of soaps were to killing bacteria. Both of these projects made me more interested in science and they introduced me to other interesting projects since it allowed me to attend: In-School Science Fair, Navajo Nation Science Fair, Regional Science Fair, and the State Science Fair. After actually following through with both of my projects, observing how other students constructed their projects, and listening to how my science teacher would talk about the things she would do to test water sample from local water wells throughout the reservation I wanted to be able to go home and help my community. After hearing about the recent Mine Spill into the San Juan River it has made me much more interested in being able to be a part of the clean-up and making sure that the farmers and ranchers in my community will have access to safe, clean water. Raising animals all my life has placed a soft spot for animals in my heart and I want to be one of many that makes sure we can preserve majority of our water sources. At the beginning of my first college semester I was scared of leaving home and being away from my family however once I began becoming involved in clubs and organizations I was able to feel much more comfortable and stronger.