Former high school dropout Christopher Villarruel is about to graduate with a BS in forest hydrology. He gives a lot of credit for his personal turnaround to the grandmother who raised him. “My grandmother, Lillian Lego, was a very strong woman,”hes ays.“She was Ajumawiand Atsuge on her mother’s side and Madesi on her father’s side. She raised many of us grandchildren, and some of my first cousins are just like my siblings.”
Villarruel stuck with high school until age 15, then he dropped out after an unsuccessful period of home schooling. “At that point I was falling to the pressures that many tribal youths endure,” he explains. “Alcohol and other destructive forces were affecting me.” Even though he earned his GED at 19, Villarruel didn’t start taking junior college courses until he was 24. “I was out of school for almost a decade,” he explains. “That was a big hurdle for me mentally because I had many doubts about my ability to cut it.”
Like all students, he also had to learn how to balance his personal life. “Learning the hard way resulted in some failed classes and a one-year departure from school,” he says. “In 2017, I graduated with my associate’s in natural science. That was the first time I had ever walked in a ceremony for graduation. My grandmother passed away in 2016, but I feel like she was there in spirit.”
Villarruel’s grandmother had made his next step clear. “My grandmother could see past the struggles I was having, and she believed strongly that I should attend Humboldt State,” he says. “I remember talking to her about compromising on another college. She gave me some choice words that only a loving grandma could. Fast-forward to the present — she was right. Next year, I will be walking for a BS in forestry.”
These days Villarruel also looks to his immediate family for motivation and support. “My sons Talon and Cirrus are a driving factor in my pursuit of higher education,” he says. “But it’s not easy being a full-time dad while pursuing a difficult area of study. Luckily, my girlfriend holds it down at home. As a family, they are fully supportive of the time and sacrifice I put into school and work.”
Villarruel says he chose the hydrology option for his forestry major for more than just professional reasons — it also neatly fits his heritage. “My people (Ajumawi) are river people,” he explains. “As a tribal forester, it is important for me to base my future work on watershed health. Even though the hydrology program takes longer to finish due to more math requirements, I feel like I chose the right option.”
Humboldt State University, with its programs for Native students students, including the Indian Tribal & Educational Personnel Program (ITEPP), provides academic support and advisement from Native staff members. On the other side of campus resides Humboldt’s Indian Natural Resources, Science and Engineering Program (INRSEP), where students can access academic and research support services. INRSEP focuses on first-generation, low-income, and historically underrepresented students in STEM disciplines, especially Indigenous students. Both houses create the perfect balance of support that a student like Villarruel needs to feel comfortable four hours away from his homeland.
Humboldt was also a good choice for Villarruel. Through a fire ecology club on campus, Villarruel connected with the Cultural Fire Management Council’s fall training exchange, or TREX, and had an opportunity to learn about prescription burning. “This past October I had the pleasure of setting fire to the ground with the Yurok Tribe,” he says. “Our job was to assist in burning and clearing areas near Weitchpec. I was able to apply what I learned in my classes to a real-life situation. As a Native forester, it was a special experience: rekindling my relationship with fire.”
This past summer he was hired through an apprenticeship on campus for Redwoods Rising, a program where participants work on their own in the wilderness with management objectives. “The project means a lot to me because it was my first field job while pursuing my forestry degree,” says Villarruel. “At the end of the project my partner and I presented our work to a room full of professors, agency leads, and cohorts. That job will forever have a place in my heart — and on my resume.”
Now, when Villarruel graduates he will have his degree and three summers of experience, which fits right into his goals. “I want to work under a registered professional forester (RFP) and gain two more years of forestry experience,” he says. “Next, I want to earn a master’s in sustainable forest management at Oregon State. I’m going to take the RFP test. Then I want to start up a natural resource management LLC to offer sustainable forest and hydrology management services to tribal and non- tribal projects.”
This high school dropout has come a long way. “I know what it feels like to fall short and fail,” he says. “That feeling doesn’t sit well with me anymore. Now I know when to take an opportunity, and I don’t wait for people to advocate for me.” And his grandmother? He says, “She would be thrilled to know how things have turned out.”
