{"id":34505,"date":"2024-01-16T16:35:02","date_gmt":"2024-01-16T21:35:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/?p=34505"},"modified":"2024-01-16T16:36:31","modified_gmt":"2024-01-16T21:36:31","slug":"msu-news-chippewa-cree-student-persists-and-graduates-with-degree-in-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2024\/01\/16\/msu-news-chippewa-cree-student-persists-and-graduates-with-degree-in-education\/","title":{"rendered":"MSU News: Chippewa Cree student persists and graduates with degree in education"},"content":{"rendered":" \"Georgeline<\/a>
Montana State University graduating student Georgeline Morsette, majoring in Art K-12 Education, poses for photos in the American Indian Hall at Montana State University, on December 4, 2023, in Bozeman, Montana.
MSU photo by Marcus \u201cDoc\u201d Cravens<\/figcaption>\r\n
\u2018A long journey\u2019<\/div>\r\n
Student Georgeline Morsette persists through challenges to earn a bachelor\u2019s degree from Montana State<\/div>\r\n
Tuesday, January 16, 2024<\/div>\r\n
By Anne Cantrell<\/div>\r\n
MSU News Service<\/div>\r\n
montana.edu\/news<\/A><\/div>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nBOZEMAN — When Georgeline Morsette crossed the stage in the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse during Montana State University\u2019s 139th commencement ceremony<\/a>, she celebrated earning a bachelor\u2019s degree and entering a new chapter of life, one where she looks forward to working as an art educator in Montana.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nThe ceremony was the culmination of Morsette\u2019s college career at MSU in which she has successfully completed her coursework, charted a career path, earned the respect of professors and staff members, and volunteered in her community, according to several who have worked with her. Morsette received a degree in art education, K-12 broadfield teaching option.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nBut there were times when Morsette wasn\u2019t sure she would finish her degree. During her time at MSU, she said, \u201clife hit (her) like a train,\u201d and the challenges were daunting. To reach the commencement milestone is significant, she said, and she\u2019s glad she persisted.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n\u201cIt\u2019s been a long journey,\u201d Morsette said. \u201cI\u2019m really glad to be at this point.\u201d\r\n

<\/P>\r\nMorsette enrolled at MSU in the fall of 2017 after graduating from high school in Billings.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n\u201cI\u2019ve always loved art and working with kids and teaching, so I think ever since I graduated high school, I knew I wanted to go to school to be an art teacher,\u201d she said.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nShe said she was inspired to study art education because her dad had wanted to be an art educator. He had enrolled at MSU too, but, she said, life got in the way of him completing his degree \u2014 her parents both started taking classes at MSU when she was just 3 weeks old.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n\u201cIt turns out school is really hard with a newborn baby, and in a way I am getting this degree for both of us,\u201d Morsette said. (Her mother ended up graduating about a decade later from MSU Billings.)\r\n

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Six Montana State University students are being recognized for their academic excellence, community service and leadership.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t

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<\/P>\r\nMorsette also knew she wanted to study at MSU. She is an enrolled member of the Chippewa Cree tribe and grew up in several Montana communities, including Rocky Boy, Bozeman, Belgrade and Billings. She and her parents lived in MSU\u2019s on-campus housing for students with families when she was young. She remembers loving Bozeman and wanted to return.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nMorsette has been deeply involved in a number of activities during her time at MSU, including as a member of the American Indian Council<\/a> and the Society of Indigenous Educators<\/a> and as an ambassador for the College of Arts and Architecture<\/a>. Her art has been featured at American Indian Heritage Day and in MSU\u2019s Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls exhibit in the Strand Union Building. She also served as a community assistant in MSU\u2019s Student Apartments, and she volunteered with the HRDC\u2019s summer lunch program, MSU\u2019s Bounty of the Bridgers<\/a> food pantry and as a tutor in local schools with the America Reads, America Counts program. Her motivation for her volunteer work has been simply to be kind and make people feel welcome, Morsette said.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nWhen MSU\u2019s American Indian Hall opened<\/a> in October 2021, Morsette was at the podium, speaking as a representative of the MSU American Indian Council to the more than 1,000 people who attended.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nThe experience was \u201cmeaningful but also terrifying,\u201d Morsette recalled. She said she spoke about the importance of having a Native community at MSU.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n\u201cEven though I didn\u2019t come straight from my reservation, having that community is something that\u2019s really important,\u201d she said. \u201cIt can be really hard to come to a whole new place and hard to stay unless you feel you have that community.\u201d The American Indian Hall has enabled MSU\u2019s Native community to hold more events and to grow in numbers, Morsette said.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n\u201cIt\u2019s so nice to have a bigger space for Native students to come in and feel welcome,\u201d she said.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nIn fact, Lisa Perry, director of American Indian\/Alaska Native Student Success Services<\/a>, said Morsette has helped strengthen her community.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n\u201cGeorge always engages and brings good energy into anything she is involved with,\u201d Perry said. \u201cShe genuinely cares about her community.\u201d In 2021, Morsette received<\/a> the Daniel Voyich Community Involvement award given by the MSU Department of Native American Studies<\/a> and the American Indian\/Alaska Native Student Success Program.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nAs Morsette progressed through college, the increasing difficulty of her classes and the number of activities she participated in started to leave her feeling overwhelmed, she said. She had to learn to say \u201cno\u201d to some things and that it was important to seek out help when she needed it, even if that went beyond academic help.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n\u201cI could feel myself start to struggle,\u201d she said. \u201cI was getting burned out and my classes were getting harder. It was harder to find the motivation to get out of bed each day and go to class.\u201d\r\n

<\/P>\r\nMorsette sought help for her mental health, working with staff in MSU\u2019s Counseling and Psychological Services<\/a>. Working with a counselor was new for her, Morsette said: She has many siblings, and she has always been the one in her family who has given help, not needed it.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n\u201cBut I realized it\u2019s OK to ask for help, too,\u201d she said. \u201cI know I\u2019m strong, but even strong people need help. \u2026 It was good to get the help I needed.\u201d\r\n

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More than 1,000 people, including dignitaries from throughout the country, attended the grand opening of the American Indian Hall at Montana State University.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t

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<\/P>\r\nOther challenges came, too. Morsette, who had transferred some credits from summer courses she took at Stone Child College in Rocky Boy, was originally on track to graduate from MSU in three years, she said. But the COVID-19 pandemic hit just as she was getting ready to student-teach, and she knew she didn\u2019t want to complete that portion of her education virtually.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n\u201cI just felt like it wouldn\u2019t prepare me for the classroom,\u201d she said. Instead, she took classes in Native American studies, but by the spring of 2021, her mental health was \u201cnot great\u201d and she also needed to save money for school and living expenses. So Morsette took a year off from MSU.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nShe said it was a tough decision and she was worried that she might not return.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n\u201cI was scared because many people told me how hard it would be to come back,\u201d she recalled. \u201cBut I think that\u2019s part of what motivated me to come back. I\u2019m really stubborn. And I came so far and worked so hard to not go back and finish my degree.\u201d\r\n

<\/P>\r\nUltimately, she said the time off \u201cgave me a renewed sense of purpose and the rest that I needed to come back.\u201d She re-enrolled at MSU in the spring of 2022 and completed her student teaching this semester in Billings, teaching high school ceramics.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nNow, as she looks back on her time at MSU, she feels grateful for the professors and staff members who supported her along the way. For example, \u201ceveryone\u201d in the education department<\/a> was always kind and welcoming, she said.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n\u201cThey genuinely care about you and want you to succeed. And if you ever need help, they\u2019re always there to help you,\u201d she said. \u201cI definitely wouldn\u2019t have made it if I hadn\u2019t had tons of people to help me through.\u201d\r\n

<\/P>\r\nIn addition, she said her academic work taught her lessons she will carry with her throughout her career. One art methods class taught by Paul Waldum was especially memorable.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n\u201cThat class showed the importance of creativity and of teaching creative thinking, critical thinking skills and out-of-the-box-type thinking,\u201d she said. \u201cArt education is so much more than doing art.\u201d\r\n

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