Angélica Noel Lozano-Romines became an aunt at the age of seven. As the youngest of five, Lozano-Romines often took care of her nieces and nephews. That experience solidified what she had always known: that she wanted to support children and their development.
Lozano-Romines grew up in a predominantly BIPOC community in Ardmore, Okla., then moved to a smaller rural area for high school, where only a few students looked like her. This experience gradually led her to assimilate, which resulted in experimenting with blue-colored contacts during her early college years.
When Lozano-Romines expressed interest in college, her guidance counselor discouraged her. “I barely graduated from high school,” she says. “I was focused on survival at home and at school.” Instead of becoming dejected, Lozano-Romines was fueled by the counselor’s lack of encouragement. “My experience in high school sparked my passion for students who need more support,” she explains. “I knew I could use education to have a better life.”
After high school Lozano-Romines tried a few different programs, but she was still thinking about a bachelor’s degree. On a whim, she applied to the University of Central Oklahoma and was accepted. “I thought maybe I would pursue psychology since I want to support children,” she say. “And then I found child development.”
With her major settled, Lozano-Romines adjusted to life as a college student while working part time. Then during her senior year, she found out she was pregnant. While excited, she was aware of the challenges. “I wanted to get a master’s in child life development, and going straight into that program would have been an easy transition,” explains Lozano-Romines. “But as a new mom it was hard: I needed health insurance for my baby; I needed to be able to provide financially.”
After graduating with her bachelor’s in 2012, she spent the next few years as a first-generation professional. In 2018, Lozano-Romines was ready to try again for her master’s, and she again learned that she was pregnant. Then the pandemic hit. Lozano-Romines had to put her dream on hold, but she opted to see the positive side. “COVID allowed me to have time at home with my kids,” she says. “My family is my priority, and that interlude helped me see that I shouldn’t settle.”
Still determined to get her master’s, Lozano-Romines was accepted into Oklahoma State’s educational leadership program. Excited but also scared, she knew she had to give it her all. She quit her job to focus on school and commuted an hour each way multiple times per week.
An avid gamer, Lozano-Romines would often turn to gaming to unwind. She soon found an entire community of Native gamers, which led to a realization that gaming could be a source of strength and support for Native students. “I want to uplift Indigenous voices in the gaming/digital space,” explains Lozano-Romines. “Gaming can create real connections.”
Throughout graduate school Lozano-Romines directed community and partnership development for Native Gaming, served as a content expert for Esports, and shared her work at AISES conferences. She is now the owner and executive director of Gaming is Rezilience, where she develops and runs community-focused gaming events and workshops to foster Indigenous student engagement in STEM. “I started the business to put my work, presentations, and experience into a formal entity,” explains Lozano-Romines. “One day I hope to have a brick-and-mortar space where we can game and upload Indigenous content.”
Now, with her graduate degree and her own gaming company, Lozano-Romines is not only supporting young people, she’s helping them thrive. From trying to assimilate into the white culture around her to now embracing her Native roots, Lozano-Romines is paving the way for Indigenous young people in gaming. “When I was young I lost the connection to my culture,” she explains. “It had always been there but was silenced. Now I am reclaiming my Indigenous identity.”
