Helping native people, one student at a time

Cheyenne Reynoso, a senior at Orange County High School of the Arts and an American Indian, says meeting Nikishna Polequaptewa changed her life.

“He’s one of my role models,” Reynoso says

She met him through the American Indian Summer Academy, a free one-week residential program offered through UCI’s Center for Educational Partnerships that introduces high school students to college life. The experience inspired her to apply to UCI. She is one of 66 American Indians admitted to UCI for fall 2008; she plans to major in anthropology.

“I’m a first-generation college student, and I had no idea how to apply to college,” she says. “Without Nikishna, I would not have known what to do.”