The South Dakota School of Mines and Technology holds its 182nd Commencement ceremony Saturday, Dec. 19.
A diploma from the prestigious school is a lofty achievement. One student will become the 50th person to graduate under a unique program that supports Native students.
When Tristan Picotte was growing up in Eagle Butte on the Cheyenne River Reservation, he recalls one of his favorite pastimes.
“I remember I'd take apart VCRS, DVD players, and just like everything when I was little," said Picotte. "The electronics fascinated me. "
That innate curiosity would play a big role in his future. His family moved around the United States, but he always longed to be back in South Dakota.
“I have my family out here, my grandpa, my aunties, my cousins, my uncles," said Picotte, "and moving around I didn't get to see a whole lot of them.
And when he’d return for visits, the School of Mines started to play an important role.
“...and if we drive by the school, my dad would always tell me like, 'Someday that's where you're going to go. Someday I want you to go there'" said Picotte, "and I think that stuck with me a bit more than I really paid attention to.”
Picotte graduated from high school in Arizona and eventually set his sights onto the South Dakota School of Mines and Techonology.
“I applied to five other schools across the nation and I got into all of them, but when it came down to it the price was really attractive because you really can't beat the price at Mines ," said Picotte.
Picotte was initially overwhelmed when he first got to campus, but he met fellow Native American students and eventually learned about the Tiospaye Scholar Program. The program is designed to increase the number of Native Americans graduating from Mines in the scientific fields of engineering and mathematics with the necessary financial, academic, social and cultural support
“Those guys come from the same circumstances I do and I see them as being really successful at it," said Picotte, "and regardless of whether or not I was involved in that community all the time, they were still there to help me when I needed it.”
Picotte walks away with his bachelor’s in electrical engineering and has accepted a job with IBM which starts in a few months, but as far as being the 50th Tiospaye Scholar Program Graduate.
“It feels kind a weird," said Picotte. "It's like, man, I just happened to end up at the 50th spot. It feels like kind of a cool way to close that chapter of my life, you know?”
Picotte looks forward to his future and says the Tiospaye Scholar Program made it possible. He hopes to give back to his Tribe someday, somehow when the opportunity presents itself.
-Contact SDPB’s Richard Two Bulls by email.