REXBURG—For Angel Cody, a BYU-Idaho student who grew up in Inscription House on the Navajo Reservation near Page, Arizona, coming to college meant more than continuing her education. It meant leaving behind the community and culture she knew and learning how to find her place somewhere new.
Growing up on the reservation shaped Cody’s perspective on family, community and faith. Her upbringing gave her experiences that were different from many of the people she would eventually meet at BYU-Idaho.
“Growing up on the reservation, there’s a lot of various settings in how people grow up. And for me, how I grew up was in a very rundown double-wide trailer and where I lived at the time, I had electricity and I didn’t have running water growing up,” Cody said.
Adjusting to college brought challenges of its own. Being away from home and surrounded by people with different backgrounds sometimes left Cody feeling lonely. As a Native American student, she became more aware of what it felt like to be part of a minority and how important it was to find people who made her feel understood and included.
Those experiences helped Cody recognize the value of community and belonging. They also gave her a greater appreciation for where she came from and the culture that continues to be an important part of her identity.
“I felt like I had a place in a lot of my classes, especially my first semester,” Cody said.
Throughout the challenges she has experienced, Cody has relied on her faith in Jesus Christ for strength. Difficult moments have given her opportunities to grow and have helped shape the way she views herself, her relationships with others and her future.
Rather than allowing her struggles to define her negatively, Cody has tried to learn from them. Her experiences have helped her develop a stronger understanding of who she is while recognizing the influence her upbringing and faith have had on the person she has become.
Cody’s story also offers other students an opportunity to better understand experiences that may be different from her own. By sharing her background and the challenges she has faced, she hopes others can recognize the importance of creating a community where students from different cultures and backgrounds feel seen and welcomed.
For Cody, the challenges of leaving home, adjusting to a new environment and finding where she belongs have ultimately become part of her growth.
“I’ve definitely grown a lot in the spiritual aspect of actually understanding more of who I am as a child of God but more importantly learn more things about myself that I didn’t know,” Cody said.