Ambitious and determined, Melissa Flamand isn’t afraid to set the bar high. Challenging academic programs, her parents, and her teachers have shaped her into the person she is today: a student who values hard work and is focused on her goals.
One goal Flamand’s already achieved is attending an Ivy League school — her dream since the fourth grade. This fall she will begin her freshman year at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., heading for a path in medicine. “Dartmouth stood out because of its strong Native American program,” she explains. “It has the largest Native community of all the Ivies, and that is one important thing I look forward to.” After obtaining her bachelor’s degree, Flamand, Chippewa/Cree and Flying Dust First Nation, plans to head to graduate school and earn a doctorate of pharmacy.
Flamand, a recent graduate of Browning High School, grew up on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Montana. Her great-grandmother was the first female chief of the Flying Dust First Nation. Flamand’s roots may be a long way from Dartmouth College, but the distance doesn’t intimidate her because of previous visits to the East Coast and a passion for travel. And she knows that New England’s changeable weather will be a lot like it is in her hometown. “It’s a climate with four distinct seasons, sometimes all in one day,” she says, noting that Browning holds the record for the greatest temperature change in 24 hours.
Since Flamand was a young girl, math has been her favorite subject. Starting the summer after seventh grade, she attended the six-week Indians Into Medicine (INMED) Summer Institute program at the University of North Dakota. There she took classes in math, biology, chemistry, physics, health, and communications for two summers and met lifelong friends who nurtured her passion for the medical field.
In addition to INMED, Flamand has been a part of the Indigenous Scholars of Promise (ISP) program, which mentors Native American high school students and helps prepare them to get into their top school. “Participating in ISP has empowered me to put my best foot forward,” she says. Without the generous support of the staff at Hopa Mountain who run the ISP program, Flamand doesn’t know if she would be as far along as she is today. (For more on ISP, see pages 31 and 40.)
Flamand attributes her success to a range of people and institutions, including ISP, INMED, her teachers, and her parents. “My teachers have instilled a sense of achievement that has given me the drive to pursue anything that I set my mind to, and my family has always been my biggest support,” she explains. “They have encouraged me to never give up, to set goals, and to get a college education.”
As she prepares to move across the country, Flamand has received some good advice. One suggestion is to get involved with as many activities and clubs as she can to keep busy and ease any homesickness. Her involvement so far with the INMED program has taught her that complete strangers can become your best friends. And she has her own advice for other students. “Don’t be afraid to go out there and chase your dreams,” she says. “That’s what I’m doing right now.”
