In the fourth grade, I had a Radio Flyer wagon that my parents helped me turn into a covered wagon. Dressed in a bonnet and skirt, me and a group of fellow classmates lined up on the playground. The principal blew a whistle and we were off recreating the Oklahoma Land Run. None of us really asked why. In fact, it wasn't actually a choice. It was something we did like long division or the twice-weekly P.E. class. If there was a choice, it wasn't articulated to fourth grade Marisa.
It's kind of odd that my academic career started with me re-enacting land thievery, and ended with my tribe helping me pay my tuition. (Shout out to the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. Without you guys, I probably never would've gone to grad school!)