It is no secret that the Indian communities in the United States have been given a bad reputation, especially in South Dakota. Reservations are filled with poverty, drugs and alcohol. It is very easy to jump to conclusions and associate them as being lazy. The only reason that we do this is because we are observing their lives from afar and have not immersed ourselves in their culture. I spent this past week on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota coaching high school boys at a football camp. That’s right, high school boys from some of the poorest counties in the country. I had no idea what the house I was going to be staying in would be like or even where the heck the house was. I had no idea if these kids would be dangerous or a threat to me. Some of them were barely two years younger than me. Fear consumed me and my anxiety took over on the car ride up. I had officially let the stereotypes from society and my own assumptions take over my will to help people in need. I wanted to go home before we had even left the state of Nebraska.

Of course, there was no turning back. I had committed to coming in and helping these kids to become better athletes and people. When we arrived to the house we were staying at (family of my cousin’s husband) I was blown away at how nice and welcoming these people were. They made us a huge dinner and truly made me feel like I was at home. I was in charge of leading the warm-up and strength and conditioning workouts for the kids. I was blown away at the work ethic they displayed just during the warm up. These were some of the most hard working and respectful boys I had ever met in my life. No matter how hard the conditioning was that I threw at them, they still managed to power through. One boy even had to stop and throw up, but continued running when he was finished.

Here’s the sad part. As I got to know these kids over the course of the week, some thing really started to open up about how hard their home lives were. I felt great that they trusted me enough to confide in me with some very personal issues. However, it broke my heart to see that some of these kids had little to no support for school, sports, and even furthering their education after high school. Most of them are expected to work to help support their families. They are surrounded by a community full of alcohol and drugs. After fully immersing myself into their culture and style of life, I realized that it is up to us to help them. How is the cycle of alcoholism and drugs in their community supposed to change if nobody is there to motivate the kids and get them on the right track? We cannot just sit back and judge. Growing up without parents or parents with a drug problem can make it pretty hard to build a stable foundation for life.

If we don’t get off our butts and do something to help these kids, then these communities will never have the opportunity to thrive. They represent such a beautiful and unique culture, but that is overshadowed by the flaws of their communities. I am so happy that I was able to go and help make a positive impact on the lives of the future of the reservation. We were able to give these kids three days full of football, fun, healthy food, guidance and advice. Seeing the happiness that we were able to share with them is an experience that I will never forget and I can’t wait to go back. Imagine if everyone gave some of their time to those in need. I’m almost positive that we would see a world with a lot more love and a lot less problems.