The breathtaking rural landscape of the Shiprock region of the Navajo Nation is the backdrop to the latest movie in the Jumanji franchise, Jumanji 3, due in theaters in mid-December.
Cedric Mannie grew up in a small rural community called Kinlichee on the Navajo Reservation. The neighbors were more than 200 yards away, but it was not nearly as remote as some other areas. Growing up Mannie did his share of everyday tasks like chopping and hauling wood, and while he didn’t always enjoy the work, he recognized these jobs as necessary contributions.
Mannie has come far from his small town and his daily chores — he is now a senior studying computer engineering at Utah State University. Thinking about where he is now and where he came from, he recognizes that he didn’t have as much access to opportunities and luxuries as some of his college peers. While he didn’t have everything he may have wanted, his parents made sure he had everything he needed in order to succeed — emphasizing the importance of getting a degree and helping him create a plan for when he would leave home.
Both his parents worked and occasionally did have the funds for some luxuries. While it was not just one moment that sparked Mannie’s interest in computers, one of those luxuries — video games — certainly helped. The games provided hours of entertainment, and this distraction was important to Mannie’s parents too, as alcoholism and drug use are common in their area.
Mannie admits that he barely understood computers while growing up because he had limited access to them. Thinking of the video game consoles, he wondered how such a small box could perform the tasks being displayed on the screen. At the same time, some of them had a big AC power brick and husky build. His curiosity blossomed as new technologies became smaller and more efficient. Learning about technology turned out to be a natural fit for Mannie, who wanted to investigate how these advances came about and where they were going.
Technology would also have an impact when he learned that it has applications in the medical field. Once Mannie witnessed how a pacemaker was able to control an individual’s heartbeat — and save a life — he readily understood that technology can be a game-changer in daily life. After some time, Mannie knew that he wanted to pursue his interests through a college degree, instead of falling into a destructive lifestyle.
Learning about technology turned out to be a natural fit for Mannie, who wanted to investigate how these advances came about and where they were going.
As a high school student hoping to be a first-generation college student, Mannie had no idea what to do. And while his parents encouraged him, they didn’t know much about it either. Fortunately, Mannie also had friends who were hugely helpful in his college planning. His friends helped him through the application and selection process — it was Mannie and his friends who decided to learn their way as they went along.
The main barrier Mannie encountered was financial. After high school graduation, he worked in fast food assembling burgers. After a couple of months, he got a call from the local tribal scholarship office informing him that he qualified for the prestigious Chief Manuelito Scholarship. While it was too late to register and be prepared for a fall start, he deferred to spring semester and was ready to begin college. Still, it was a challenge to physically get to the campus, since Utah State University was far from home and his parents worked. He asked a few different relatives for rides and finally made it, thankful for all those who helped him get there.
For first-generation college students, the path of higher education can be a mystery. Mannie is hoping to change that for his family. He cares about inspiring others to pursue their interests and succeed at college. He is also candid and honest about the journey — there are times it is hard to see if this path, this course, or this major will be the “right” one. Based on his experiences so far, and his commitment to the journey, he is well on his way, learning by doing, and showing his family how to be successful in college.
— Kyle Coulon
Funded by a private trust, the Kamehameha Schools were endowed by Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, the last direct descendant of King Kamehameha I, who united the islands in 1810. The princess, who died in 1884, understood that education is vital to the survival of her people.
When Nalani Miller was in eighth grade, her biology teacher wouldn’t support her enrollment in a more advanced course. “I really wanted to go to honors biology, but she refused to recommend me,” Miller recalls. Her teacher’s opinion was that Miller wouldn’t be able to excel in science, that she wasn’t driven enough to do well in honors biology. But that didn’t discourage Miller. “Her thinking that I wouldn’t do well in science, that lit a fire for me to prove her wrong,” she says.
That same year Miller’s speech teacher also refused to recommend her for honors speech, telling her she wasn’t very good at public speaking. That lit another fire. Eighth grade was a tough year but it didn’t scare her off. She ended up being the secretary of the speech team.
Miller just finished her senior year at Kamehameha High School on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. She is now poised to start college at the University of Rochester with a dream of becoming a biologist and finding a cure for cancer. “It’s a tier 1 research institution, which would allow me to work in the lab starting from my freshman year,” she says. “I’m sure it’s the right choice for me.”
[Miller is] poised to start college at the University of Rochester with a dream of becoming a biologist and finding a cure for cancer.
Targeting cancer is personal for Miller because she has had many family members and friends affected by the disease. “I wondered if I could be able to help them,” she says after watching relatives on her father’s side succumb to breast cancer. Cancer, it turns out, occurs in high rates among Hawaiian people.
Last year at the AISES National Conference in Oklahoma City she was a pre-college poster winner. The title of her project was “Ptychosperma macarthurii (MacArthur palm) Significantly Inhibits the Growth of HeLa Cervical Cancer, RPMI-8226 Myeloma Cancer, and MCF-7 Breast Cancer.” A short time later she received some more bad news. “I found out my grandfather was diagnosed with prostate cancer,” she says.
With these personal experiences, Miller is more and more determined to tackle cancer. The summer before her senior year she landed a paid internship at the University of Hawaii where she tested an experimental drug for lung cancer. She was the only high school student involved. She made the most of this experience by picking the brains of the other interns, who were junior and senior college students. “I was able to ask the college students for advice,” Miller says. They told her to take advantage of every opportunity but also to make time for college fun. “It was a really amazing opportunity!” she says. “I worked with actual doctors and PhDs, and I learned under them.”
Miller’s father is Native Hawaiian, and while he didn’t get a college degree, he still started his own company despite, she says, people telling him he wouldn’t make it. Her mother, who is from the Philippines, worked hard to become a civil engineer. “I like to believe I take after them, in that sense,” says Miller. She certainly mirrored their work ethic throughout high school, keeping a frantic pace that included participating on the Speech and Debate Team. Plus, she ran track and field and cross country.
Miller learned how to manage her time by watching her parents. “When I was in seventh grade my dad started his own steel structural company,” she says. “I would see them working on plans, and I would be helping them manage time. My parents were always on me to not procrastinate.” They warned her that if she left her work to the last second, she would be stressed out and the quality of work would suffer.
That skill has enabled her to compete at a high level. This year, out of 477 competitors, she placed in the top five at a statewide science fair. With that achievement she qualified for a free trip to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF). For that competition she updated her AISES poster and renamed her project “Ptychosperma macarthurii Seeds Inhibit Growth of Ex Vivo Cancer Cells.”
All this energy, curiosity, and dedication comes from a little girl who used to dance hula, sing songs in Hawaiian, and play the ukulele. Today if Miller ever doubts herself, she just turns on Beyoncé’s song “Run the World (Girls),” and she’s back on track.
And that track leads to college. “I like to surround myself with friends who are like me, who have a focus,” she says. “I like to believe I’m ready to go to college. I will try my best! I will work really hard and take advantage of every single program that comes my way.”
— Patty Talahongva