Occasionally a bold new author piles on complications with a dizzying new story of land, possession and race amid Western mountains, as C Pam Zhang does for Chinese laboring families in “How Much of These Hills is Gold.”ĭenver librarian Terry Nelson remembers the feeling of growth-by-complication when she was a student looking for Black historical figures beyond the better-known “buffalo soldiers.” She found the true tale of Fannie Mae Duncan, a Colorado Springs businesswoman who copied Harlem’s Cotton Club as a top jazz destination for Black soldiers segregated at home by the country they fought for overseas. They may come after exploring an ancient Mexican land grant near the Four Corners, and finding out that Mexican widows actually had stronger property rights before the U.S took over the Southwest from the Mexican government in 1848.

They may come while driving toward the indigenous, spiritual wonder of the Pawnee Buttes, passing by a nuclear missile silo buried underground, and suddenly realizing everyone else sees a land so empty that they can hide their worst things here. These complications - reflected in the canon of regional literature - may come while kicking up dust near the Spanish Peaks and realizing that to live west of the 100th meridian, as John Wesley Powell and Wallace Stegner framed it, is to live in a high desert that doesn’t support life-giving crops without redirecting massive river flows. I believe I have the confidence and heart to compete at the college level and contribute to my team in ways as a leader, player, and as a person.The fascinating complications of life and history in the West overtake us at their own pace. The program I am looking for and I feel would be good for me is one that challenges me both athletically and academically.

I am very lucky to have learned the values of hard work, commitment, teamwork and leadership from my freshmen year until now and knowing that I can contribute to my team in so many other ways now that I am starting to become a team captain and leader. I know that I am capable for so much more and to become a next level point guard and shooting guard to compete at the college level. These great accomplishments have helped me realize that there is always room for improvement and I can always work to improve my skills on the court and in the classroom. Winning a regional championship and a state championship was a great accomplishment for my team and I, while also becoming a new and first Native American member of the WHSAA Student Advisory Council. As a more experienced student-athlete, I've gained more knowledge and opportunities to grow as both a student and an athlete, to be humble about my accomplishments and that there is no limit to my hard work ethic.

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