Ittvnaha Scholarship: Gathering Together to Support a Fellow Employee to Push Beyond Boundaries
Sometimes in life, you go places outside your element, pushing beyond boundaries to reach out for a better future.
This is what Sherlynn Kennedy imparted to her son as she set out on her third attempt at earning a master’s degree. With a husband and two children, full-time work, and now school, Sherlynn is walking in faith and setting that example for her children.
“I did a lot of soul searching and researching,” she says. “I visited with my own career counselor to figure out what would be the best path that I should choose.”
Sherlynn applied for the Ittvnaha (gather together) Scholarship through the Chahta Foundation. Ittvnaha is funded in part by Choctaw Nation employees—Sherlynn’s colleagues and friends.
“I’ve had so much support from employees that I work with,” she says. “For them to give up their earned money for me to get that scholarship is an awesome feeling. It motivates me not to give up, not to quit no matter how hard it gets.”
Sherlynn has worked for the Choctaw Nation since 2002. Starting in the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), she eventually moved to the STAR Program, helping to take it nationwide. Now finishing management work with the Choctaw Asset Building (CAB) program, Sherlynn is looking ahead to project management as a career.
“That’s what I love to do,” she says. “I want to learn how to manage a project from start to end, and to have a successful end. With my current work in CAB, I want to serve all the tribal members I possibly can. I’m using the tools I’m learning in my daily work now. That’s what really drove me to pick project management as a major.”
This is not a journey Sherlynn would undertake alone. She draws on her faith and on her roots of being Choctaw, wearing her Choctaw dress with pride. She and her mom make traditional shirts together. Sherlynn does pottery with her children and social dancing with her son.
“Growing up, I knew I was Choctaw, but I didn’t know what that meant,” Sherlynn says. “There are so many things to understand about the culture and the heritage, and seeking out knowledge from the elders. I try to incorporate the Choctaw language on a daily basis with my kids. I encourage them to learn the basics because if we don’t, it’s going to eventually be gone.”
Moving forward in her education, Sherlynn also looks back at ways to help others pursue higher education. She donates to the Chahta Foundation by using Amazon Smile for online shopping, and contributes to the Pink Warrior Scholarship and Jones Academy funds.
“I encourage students we work with to consider the Chahta Foundation as a way to give back to the tribe to help our future leaders,” she says.
Doggedly pursuing her degree, Sherlynn walks in faith and teaches her children to do the same—to push beyond boundaries for a better future.
Credit: Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer
