‘Evening Aspens’

‘Out of Gas’

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“Keith! You go to the back of the room. The rest of you students take out your math books and turn to page 106.”

I was often sent to the back of the room to work on art projects for the teacher while the rest of the class did 6th grade math. This was great for a 6th grader that loved to draw. But next year in 7th grade I discovered that I didn’t understand math very well because I had missed out on many of the basic principles.

I finally made it through high school, even learned some math, but my favorite subject remained art. From high school I went right into college, taking generals and always an art class, because I enjoyed them.

Following my first five quarters of college I went to South Dakota where I lived and worked with the Sioux Indians. I first worked on the Standing Rock Reservation and then the Crow Creek Reservation. I worked with people who had names like: Loves War, Brown Otter, Chief White Buffaloman, and Grandpa Straight Arrow, who taught me a lot about carving and most of the Sioux language I know.

After about a year I moved to Montana to work with the Crow Indians where I lived on the Crow Indian Reservation.

The time I spent among the Indians was a great learning experience!

After my wonderful experience among the Indian people, I decided to return to college. And it wasn’t long after returning that I married the girl down the street. Thus, it became time to decide what I was going to be when I grew up. I thought “I’m not good at math, but I love my art classes, and my dad is a teacher,” so I decided to pursue an art education degree.