On my last day at Standing Rock, one of the students asked me, “What do you think you’ll remember most about this place when you leave?”

And after a minute, I said, “I think I’ll remember how warmly you all welcomed me from the first minute I walked in the door.” 

I was Mr. John for the week as I visited classrooms and set up a public studio and asked students and staff, “What do you dream is possible?”

It was the first week of Native American Heritage month and it was an honor to spend it there.

In a lot of ways, life is hard on the Standing Rock reservation. Selfridge Public School, where I spent the week, is in Sioux County, North Dakota. It’s one of the poorest counties in the nation. The poverty rate is 42.7%, which is 2-4 times the national average.

I was there during a week when some of our county’s basic safety net for the poorest of our citizens was being unraveled by the government shutdown.

So yeah, it’s hard. But it’s also beautiful.

Besides the warm welcome, I’ll remember the laughter. The ribbing. The sunrise commutes under the broad and dazzling North Dakota skies. The ice cream floats to celebrate the students who had perfect attendance. The bison herds exhaling their warm steamy breath into the frosty morning air. The dance the students performed for me at the end of the week.

There is beauty and wisdom all around us. I can see it in these stories. I can see it in their faces.

The world is hard. And. The world is beautiful.

What do you dream is possible?