Here is part one of my conversation with Charlie Scott! Charlie comes from Del Muerte, Arizona. They are a graduate of Brown University where they completed their Bachelor’s degree in Ethnic Studies and Sociology. At the time of the interview, they were in their final semester at the University of Rhode Island finishing their Master’s Program, and now preparing to attend the University of Denver in the fall for a doctoral program to study the link between higher education and settler colonialism. Charlie’s story truly reflects what it means to practice Navajo teachings in the 21st century, but they also amazingly articulate the beauty and challenges of being Navajo in the academy. Charlie provided me another set of questions to think about for my project. Charlie’s final point calls navajos to be aware of the chaos in their life, don’t leave it as it, engage in self-reflection to learn to be in balance with chaos. While navajo scholars may be away from the four sacred mountains, away from this space of hozho (peace, beauty, and order), they must go through the cycle of reflecting on their self to develop a relationship with the chaos and learn to be in hozho with chaos. Navajo scholars living working and studying beyond the four sacred mountains are never in a state of chaos. /// IG: @dineaesthetics /// Twitter: @GrandmaSaidNo /// Blog: http://dineaesthetics.com/ /// Additional Readings: (1) Brayboy, Bryan McKinley Jones, Amy J. Fann, Angelina E. Castagno, and Jessica A. Solyom. Postsecondary Education for American Indian and Alaska Natives: Higher Education for Nation Building and Self Determination: ASHE Higher Education Report 37: 5. John Wiley & Sons, 2012. (2) McNeley, James Kale. Holy wind in Navajo philosophy. University of Arizona Press, 1981. (3) Wilson, Shawn. "Research is ceremony: Indigenous research methods." (2008).