Sky grew up in a small Indian village somewhere in Oklahoma. When she was a young girl she always dreamed of going to the city and having a better life. Finally, during her senior year in high school she found out she was accepted by a small junior college in a town not too far away. Sky was the happiest person in the world that day. But she had no idea what it was going to be like when she got there.

"Aah!" she screamed. "I got accepted! I'm getting out of this crumby little place! I can't wait to go."

"That's nice dear, but don't be too happy to go. You might want to come right back home," Sky's mother said with a worried look on her face.

"Oh mom, you just don't want me to go. There's no way that I'm ever going to want to come back here!"

"Sky, you never know what can happen out there. It's a dangerous world today. You could get murdered, raped, stalked, harrassed, or anything else bad."

"Mom it's just a small town. I'll be alright there. Nothing bad can possibly happen. I'll make sure of that," Sky said, trying to reassure her mom and not to make her so worried. Then she gave her mom a kiss and ran out the door to tell everybody the good news.

When fall rolled around the corner and it was time for Sky to leave for college, she was very excited. She left her little village behind on the bus and headed for the town. Her heart pounded wildly and there was a permanent smile painted on her face throughout the whole ride. Even though the bus ride was three hours long, she felt like she couldn't keep still. Finally, after what seemed like days to Sky, the bus finally pulled to a stop outside the junior college. She grabbed her bags and stood outside for a minute and looked around. Then she walked into the nearest building. There were about ten people inside and they all stared at Sky as she walked in and headed for the little booth labeled "information." She felt her stomach muscles tighten and a small sweat break out on her forehead. This uneasy feeling made her want to turn around and run out.

"It's one of those Indians," she heard someone whisper. Sky forced a smile but it made her feel even more uncomfortable. As Sky was looking around the room she stumbled on her bags. People started snickering, then someone made an Indian war whoop and everyone started laughing.

That night Sky cried herself to sleep in her room, wondering if her mother was right after all and wishing that she hadn't come here. "But maybe tomorrow things will be better. Today is just the first day, she whispered to herself and drifted off to sleep.

The next day everybody was registering for classes. And still people made fun of Sky and said rude things as she passed by. Despite all the mean people, Sky managed to keep her confidence up and to make a couple of new friends. She found out that the people who made fun of her didn't like her because she was an Indian.

During the first day of classes Sky sat down in her speech class, and her teacher told the students that their first assignment would be to write a speech on what they thought of the place and how they felt to be there. "This is my chance," Sky thought to herself. "I'm going to tell all these people what it is really like being an Indian. Maybe some of them will change the way they feel about me once I express my true feelings."

Sky wrote a speech about racism and the way some people had treated her when she first came to the campus. She wrote about the way she felt when that happened. After she made her speech to the class her teacher asked her if she would mind presenting it in front of the whole campus. Sky accepted the offer and made the speech. After that many of the people changed their attitudes toward her, although others were too proud to change. Sky was even on statewide television and in the newspapers, and her speech was published in some magazines.

Miles away from the little college, Sky's mother sat smiling as she read about her daughter in the paper. "I will no longer have to worry about my little baby. She has grown up well," she thought, as she admired her daughter's picture. "If you can deal with hate, you can deal with anything.