SCO’s Navajo Students Talk About Their Heritage on Indigenous Peoples' Day
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SCO’s Navajo Students Talk About Their Heritage on Indigenous Peoples' Day
The Southern College of Optometry released a video on Indigenous Peoples’ Day, featuring the lives and experiences of two Navajo students, Ryan Holiday, '22, and Shane Benally, '22.
Both of these third-year students came to Southern College of Optometry from the University of New Mexico. They didn't know each other prior to attending SCO, and they even share the same birthday!
According to data compiled by ASCO, 0.6% of the nation's optometry students have been from Native American ancestry over the past 13 years. For the 2019-2020 year, there were 41 Native American optometry students in the country, including Ryan and Shane.
The first Doctors of Optometry in their families, both young men plan on returning to Navajo lands to practice optometry. Both of these students are proud of their Native American heritage as each talks about the journey that led them to optometry school. In turn, SCO is proud of Ryan and Shane for sharing this part of their story with the campus community.
