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As most Americans prepare to celebrate their independence with picnics, water activities, cookouts and fireworks displays, 16-year-old Krystle Logan, Shawnee, plans to express her patriotism in a different way — by sharing it with those in other countries.
Logan will leave on the eve of Independence Day for a two and one-half week trip to England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland as a people-to-people student ambassador.
“I heard that people in Ireland don’t know that Indians, Native Americans, are still in America,” Logan, who is Kickapoo and Sac and Fox, said. “I hope to show them that Native Americans are still in the U.S., and that we don’t live in teepees. I’ll tell them a lot about my native culture and about America.”
Logan, who will be a junior at Shawnee High School in the fall, said she heard of the ambassador program when she received a letter in the mail inviting her to attend a meeting at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond.
“It was the first I’d ever heard of it,” Logan said. “I went to the meeting, got an application, filled it out, had an interview, and a couple of days after, I received a notice that I got it.”
Logan said she was selected as one of 20 from a total of about 600 to serve as an ambassador for the commission that included England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland. Others were chosen as ambassadors for different locations.
The trip will begin with a flight to Houston and will include many activities and sightseeing, Logan said.
“I’ll get to meet Parliament members, see the changing of the guard, and do lots of activities — there are all kinds of fun activities,” she said. “And we’ll be learning about different cultures. That’s what it’s mainly about.”
Logan said aside from a trip to Shawnee’s sister city, Nikaho, Japan, when she was 13, she has not traveled outside Oklahoma, but she is looking forward to coming back, as she did from Japan, with a new understanding of the world beyond where she lives.
“I’m hoping to have learned a lot about the cultures,” she said. “When I went to Japan, it made me more open to people and I learned that we’re different, but the same.” Logan said during the trip to Japan, she stayed with a host family the entire week but this time, she will stay with a host family for one day and at a hotel the rest of the time.
“It’ll be different this time because when I stayed in Japan, they all spoke Japanese, no one spoke English,” she said. “They had some kind of little translator but I couldn’t understand anything they said.”
She did learn one phrase while in Japan, however, which she can still recite today. Translated, it means, “Hello, my name is Krystle. This is my first time meeting you, so think of me favorably.”
Logan’s mother, Vanessa Logan, said Logan’s older brother, Charles, seems most proud of her.
“He said, ‘Mom, I’m so excited for her. This is such a big deal; I’m so proud of her,’” Vanessa Logan said.
In addition to learning about new cultures, Logan said she enjoys reading the Twilight Saga books, watching Sponge Bob and other television programs, spending time with her pets — a red-eared slider turtle, Squirtle, whom she received seven or eight years ago and a miniature schnauzer named Scotty — and drawing.
Logan received teacher’s honor roll every year of her academic career thus far and has received art awards for her drawings, including first place in a school contest for drawing a Native American Sponge Bob, she said.
She remains close to her native roots by participating in southern cloth dancing and singing at powwows where she has also received awards for her talents.
Logan’s future plans include attending Gordon Cooper Technology Center in the fall for medical training and later becoming an anesthesiologist.
Logan said she is not worried at all about the trip and is confident that she will perform well her duties as a student ambassador.
“I represented Shawnee in Japan; now I’ll represent the U.S. in England,” she said.
As most Americans prepare to celebrate their independence with picnics, water activities, cookouts and fireworks displays, 16-year-old Krystle Logan, Shawnee, plans to express her patriotism in a different way — by sharing it with those in other countries.
Logan will leave on the eve of Independence Day for a two and one-half week trip to England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland as a people-to-people student ambassador.
“I heard that people in Ireland don’t know that Indians, Native Americans, are still in America,” Logan, who is Kickapoo and Sac and Fox, said. “I hope to show them that Native Americans are still in the U.S., and that we don’t live in teepees. I’ll tell them a lot about my native culture and about America.”
Logan, who will be a junior at Shawnee High School in the fall, said she heard of the ambassador program when she received a letter in the mail inviting her to attend a meeting at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond.
“It was the first I’d ever heard of it,” Logan said. “I went to the meeting, got an application, filled it out, had an interview, and a couple of days after, I received a notice that I got it.”
Logan said she was selected as one of 20 from a total of about 600 to serve as an ambassador for the commission that included England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland. Others were chosen as ambassadors for different locations.
The trip will begin with a flight to Houston and will include many activities and sightseeing, Logan said.
“I’ll get to meet Parliament members, see the changing of the guard, and do lots of activities — there are all kinds of fun activities,” she said. “And we’ll be learning about different cultures. That’s what it’s mainly about.”
Logan said aside from a trip to Shawnee’s sister city, Nikaho, Japan, when she was 13, she has not traveled outside Oklahoma, but she is looking forward to coming back, as she did from Japan, with a new understanding of the world beyond where she lives.
“I’m hoping to have learned a lot about the cultures,” she said. “When I went to Japan, it made me more open to people and I learned that we’re different, but the same.” Logan said during the trip to Japan, she stayed with a host family the entire week but this time, she will stay with a host family for one day and at a hotel the rest of the time.
“It’ll be different this time because when I stayed in Japan, they all spoke Japanese, no one spoke English,” she said. “They had some kind of little translator but I couldn’t understand anything they said.”
She did learn one phrase while in Japan, however, which she can still recite today. Translated, it means, “Hello, my name is Krystle. This is my first time meeting you, so think of me favorably.”
Logan’s mother, Vanessa Logan, said Logan’s older brother, Charles, seems most proud of her.
“He said, ‘Mom, I’m so excited for her. This is such a big deal; I’m so proud of her,’” Vanessa Logan said.
In addition to learning about new cultures, Logan said she enjoys reading the Twilight Saga books, watching Sponge Bob and other television programs, spending time with her pets — a red-eared slider turtle, Squirtle, whom she received seven or eight years ago and a miniature schnauzer named Scotty — and drawing.
Logan received teacher’s honor roll every year of her academic career thus far and has received art awards for her drawings, including first place in a school contest for drawing a Native American Sponge Bob, she said.
She remains close to her native roots by participating in southern cloth dancing and singing at powwows where she has also received awards for her talents.
Logan’s future plans include attending Gordon Cooper Technology Center in the fall for medical training and later becoming an anesthesiologist.
Logan said she is not worried at all about the trip and is confident that she will perform well her duties as a student ambassador.
“I represented Shawnee in Japan; now I’ll represent the U.S. in England,” she said.
