The journey toward purpose
Turning Points in Jameson Lopez’s life
By: Taylor Notah
Tribal Affiliation: Navajo
B.A. in Journalism and Mass Communication
Jameson Lopez is a rising advocate and role model for Native education: he is a member of the Quechan tribe, a PhD candidate at ASU, a father and husband, a decorated military veteran, and a 2015 Pat Tillman scholar. Most notable for being a magnetic figure for his involvement in education, it is surprising to learn that Lopez had a dislike for school growing up.
“I hated school,” Lopez, 33, said. “I hated going from kindergarten all the way to 12th grade. For whatever reason, I didn’t fit in.”
Born and raised in Phoenix, Lopez grew up in a predominantly white neighborhood and had difficulties acclimating in school where peers taunted him for being Native.
“I got some slurs like… dirty Indian or a drunk, or that we got lice or ashy elbows. The last two are kind of true,” Lopez said, laughing. “I’ve got lice. I don’t have it anymore, though, or I hope not anyways.”
Although he disliked his schooling as an urban Native, it was his parents’ profession as American Indian College faculty members that inspired his life trajectory. Accompanying his parents as they traveled to a myriad of reservations and reserves across Turtle Island to recruit Native students, Lopez felt connected to every community.
“I love being around Native people,” Lopez said. “That’s where I knew my home was, not just on my own reservation but on reservations all around.”
Riveted by the unique adventures that rez life offered and the people he encountered, Lopez says his memorable childhood moments include meeting a Kiowa activist in Oklahoma who shared his accounts of the 1973 Wounded Knee takeover, jumping off waterfalls with playmates on the White Mountain Apache reservation, and meeting now Vice President of the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation Paul Russell who was his dorm counselor at a Native camp years ago.
“My mom is my inspiration, my dad is my teacher,” Lopez said. “When I think about the persistence of higher education, that’s where a lot of the work that I do stems from. My parents gave me an example. They gave me how you should be interacting with Native students. My dad built relationships and trust with a lot of students. My mom trained maybe thousands of teachers to go back and teach in their own communities and I think, ‘Wow, what a legacy to follow.’”
At 18, Lopez embarked on his college journey by enrolling at American Indian College where he, like his parents, traveled to reservations to speak with Native youth. Loving college, he graduated with his bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education in 2008. With numerous veterans in his family, Lopez decided to carry on this tradition and enlisted in the United States Army.
“I knew that veterans within the Quechan community, as well as a lot of Native communities, hold a really high regard when it comes to leadership,” Lopez said, “and I knew in some ways that I was meant for leadership, so that was a path that I wanted to take.”
After being away from home for a year of training, Lopez’s life had a turning point when he met his future wife.
“In 2009, my training ended in August, then that’s when I met my wife in true army fashion,” Lopez said. “I came home and a friend introduced us when I was on leave, and the rest is history.”
Married nine months later, Lopez was deployed in August of 2010, and he spent a year in Iraq as a platoon leader. After being honorably discharged and receiving a Bronze Star Medal in 2012, Lopez returned home, enrolled in ASU’s master’s program and encountered new challenges that came with returning to school.
“I went back into the classroom (where it) changed for me,” he said. “It wasn’t the same, and some of what I experienced overseas changed me, too, as it would anybody.”
Persistent, he graduated with his master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction at ASU’s Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College in the spring of 2013 and has been enrolled in the PhD program since.
As a father of two, Lopez said that family has had a profound influence on his life journey. Their support has pushed him to challenge himself and set an example for his children, just as his parents had done for him.
“Having kids in general is amazing,” Lopez said. “Now that I’m a father, I tuck them in bed, I read them a story, and I say ‘I hope I’m being a good dad because I have a great dad.’ It’s about placing trails for a new generation and further pushing the boundaries. The challenging part of this is challenging myself. As far as helping me on my educational journey especially, there’s a lot of things that I wouldn’t have done without my wife. She always believes in me, ushering me along. She just makes life more meaningful.”
Graduating this spring, Lopez has strived toward his dream career by accepting a faculty position at the University of Arizona in Tucson. He leaves Native students not only his own legacy, but also words of advice on persistence in college.
“What matters is that you keep in your heart the people and why you’re doing it,” he said. “You can’t forget the need of our community. That’s also what’s going to help give you motivation to finish things, strive for more and to not lose sight of what you need to do and what you’re trying to accomplish, is always keeping your community in the back of your mind.”
