However just a couple of weeks later on, Bohannon changed her mind. She chose instead to participate in College of the Desert, a neighborhood college in Palm Desert, California, about 40 miles from her home. There, she can play basketball, and possibly more importantly, its closer to her household. After getting her associate degree in nursing, she prepares to transfer to a four-year school to continue her studies in the field.

Monalie Bohannon leaves her home on the Santa Rosa Band of Cahuilla Indians Reservation with her grandmother and mother on the day of her high school graduation. Credit: Shae Hammond for The Hechinger Report.

Dakota Lassen deals with Monalie Bohannon at the Santa Rosa Pit Stop, the gas station owned by their people. Lassen, who finished from Hamilton High School in 2020, took a year off after high school. He and Bohannon are planning to move to Palm Desert, California, next fall. Lassen, who Bohannon refers to as “like a sibling,” wishes to study to end up being a barber and Bohannon will study nursing at College of the Desert. Credit: Shae Hammond for The Hechinger Report.

Monalie Bohannons grandma provided her with an eagle feather at a ceremony in May so she might wear it at her graduation from Hamilton High School in Anza, California. “Im a Native American, Im from Santa Rosa,” she said. Credit: Shae Hammond for The Hechinger Report.

A Pendleton blanket Monalie Bohannons family produced her graduation from Hamilton High School in Anza, California. Credit: Shae Hammond for The Hechinger Report

Her hectic schedule did make it challenging to arrange consultations with her high school counselor, but Bohannon stated she got the aid she required when it pertained to college.

” Theyre tired when they come home,” she stated. “Now when I come home, Im tired with them.”.

” What were taught is when you make your eagle plume, that indicates youre an adult, that suggests youve achieved something huge,” she said. “I know a great deal of people on our booking didnt graduate. Therefore when they see us graduating, they actually try to let us understand [that] they appreciate us and theyre proud of us.”.

Monalie Bohannons mother tries out a shawl that is a household treasure prior to her daughters graduation from Hamilton High School, on June 2, 2021. Credit: Shae Hammond for The Hechinger Report.

If all goes as planned, Bohannon will be the first in her household to get a bachelors degree. Her mom earned an associate degree, and her older sis took a break after high school and then picked not to attend college. That led Bohannon to prioritize her college applications. “I understand that if I take a break, Im not gon na wish to go back, cause Im already discovering a brand-new way of living,” Bohannon said.

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Monalie Bohannon gets prepared in the house on the day of her graduation from Hamilton High School. Credit: Shae Hammond for The Hechinger Report.

She invested the spring weighing where she wanted to go to college. One early morning in mid-April, she was preparing yourself in the bathroom when her phone pinged with an e-mail from La Sierra University, a personal liberal arts college in Riverside, California. She was elated by the news that she had actually been accepted to study nursing.

Monalie Bohannons cousin assists her connect an eagle feather to her graduation cap. Credit: Shae Hammond for The Hechinger Report.

When she wore the feather at her graduation on June 2, she says she felt the support of her family and community.

Monalie Bohannon strolls throughout her graduation from Hamilton High School in Anza, California. “I know a lot of individuals on our reservation didnt graduate. Therefore when they see us finishing, they really attempt to let us know [that] and they appreciate us and theyre proud of us.” Credit: Shae Hammond for The Hechinger Report.

Her family has recommended she could leave the reservation for college and still return later. Bohannon stated she d choose not to go too far away: “I just feel like I have so much to do here still … I simply understand that whatever I choose to do, theyre going to support me,” she said of her household. “I know that whatever I do, Im going to assist our people.”.

A highlight of Bohannons senior year was her granny providing her with an eagle plume at a tribal event in May. “Were all women in my household,” she said. “So all of my huge inspirations, my role models, they all got to see me receive my eagle feather.”.

Monica Braine, who is Assiniboine and Hunkpapa Lakota, produced the audio story. The story was supported by a grant from the Education Writers Association.

The entryway to the appointment of the Santa Rosa Band of Cahuilla Indians in Mountain Center, California. Roughly 150 individuals live on the appointment. Credit: Shae Hammond for The Hechinger Report

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” I keep myself hectic,” she stated. “Not having a senior year has been kind of discouraging, like not physically being at school, since thats what you eagerly anticipate as a high school student. But I learnt that Im capable of doing a lot more things than just school.”

Monalie Bohannon operates at the Santa Rosa Pit Stop, the gasoline station owned by her tribe, with her mama and sibling. She chose to complete her senior year of high school online so she might work. Credit: Shae Hammond for The Hechinger Report.

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A tender minute in between 18-year-old Monalie Bohannon and her mom on the day of Bohannons graduation. Credit: Shae Hammond for The Hechinger Report.

Bohannon likewise spent much of the year viewing her more youthful cousins during school hours. She would attend her classes while set down at a counter in her cooking area so she could watch on them.

Monalie Bohannon uses a mask at her high school graduation. She studied online her senior year due to the coronavirus pandemic. Credit: Shae Hammond for The Hechinger Report.

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Monalie Bohannons diploma from Hamilton High School, offered to her on her graduation day, June 2, 2021. Credit: Shae Hammond for The Hechinger Report.

” Im thrilled to avoid the booking, but likewise to be able to come house,” she stated.

An aerial shot of the Santa Rosa Band of Cahuilla Indians appointment in Mountain Center, California, in the San Jacinto Mountain variety in southern California. Credit: Shae Hammond for The Hechinger Report.

Bohannon resides on the reservation of the Santa Rosa Band of Cahuilla Indians on the outskirts of Anza, a high desert town of 3,000 in Southern California. Bohannons community, Mountain Center, is even smaller with around 150 homeowners; she was the only trainee from her people to graduate from the high school this year; just 5 percent of the schools 266 trainees are Native.

Monalie Bohannon gets emotional as she stands in line with her mommy on the day of her graduation from Hamilton High School. Credit: Shae Hammond for The Hechinger Report.

Bohannon is looking forward to starting classes at College of the Desert in August, however shes likewise pleased to be staying near to house. “When you grow up on a booking, its not like youre trapped or anything,” she stated. “Its just … house is constantly going to be home.”.

Monalie Bohannon pets her aunts horse, Jack, on the day of her graduation from Hamilton High School. She is wearing a standard Cahuilla bird dancing shawl that belonged to her great-grandmother. Credit: Shae Hammond for The Hechinger Report

Monalie Bohannon animals her aunties horse, Jack, on the day of her graduation from Hamilton High School. Lassen, who Bohannon describes as “like a sibling,” desires to study to become a barber and Bohannon will study nursing at College of the Desert. Monalie Bohannons grandma provided her with an eagle plume at a ceremony in May so she could use it at her graduation from Hamilton High School in Anza, California. Monalie Bohannon uses a mask at her high school graduation. Monalie Bohannon strolls during her graduation from Hamilton High School in Anza, California.

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Senior year didnt turn out precisely how 18-year-old Monalie Bohannon had imagined it. Instead of playing basketball for Hamilton High School in Anza, California, or making new memories with her buddies, she invested the year participating in classes online, operating at her peoples filling station and babysitting her younger cousins.

” We would all remain in school together,” she stated. “When we had … breaks during our class durations, I would sit there with them and listen to their teachers with them, to see if they comprehend what theyre speaking about.”.

Even after her school resumed for in-person classes in April, Bohannon chose to complete the year online. That way it was much easier to continue her 38-hour-a-week job at the Santa Rosa Pit Stop, where her mom and older sibling also work.

This story belongs to a series on college registration and retention amongst Native students that was supported by the Education Writers Association.