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‘My story is a Native story’: Astrophysics grad student didn’t feel ‘Native enough’ until UCSC

Growing up, Madelyn Broome believed two things: She was destined to become a scientist and her Native heritage belonged to her. But when she got to Princeton for college, she began to doubt both. She feared she wasn’t good enough at math to succeed and not “Native enough” to claim her heritage. That changed when she arrived in 2020 at UC Santa Cruz, where she is now getting a Ph.D. in astrophysics. She is also hosting astronomy events for Native youth and mentoring youth to help them see a future for themselves in STEM.

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