What does politics mean to Chloe Dean? To her it’s everything.
Chloe is an 18-year-old Cherokee woman fresh out of high school and ready for the next chapter of her life. Her love for politics and Native American studies led her to the University of Oklahoma. She will be the first person in her family to have gone to college. At Broken Arrow High School, she played softball and took a lot of AP classes. Over time the love for politics outweighed the love for softball because, as she explained, politics affect everyone and she wants to be able to help as many people as she can.
“I want to be a public servant,” she said. “There are a lot of issues in Oklahoma and I think I have what it takes to make a difference.”
Chloe has worked hard to get where she’s at. She makes films about the right to protest and went to Native American meetings in the Capitol. In these meetings, she would sit down with other Native Americans and talk about some of the issues tribal communities are having and work toward solutions. One of her main goals is to help get young adults into politics, to let the young adults be heard.
When she was younger, her dad never took her to see Native American dances. As she got older she realized she wanted to know more about Native American communities. So, when she got out of high school she looked into learning about Native American studies and where she can learn the most.
Chloe loves to write. She likes the whole idea of interviewing people and getting to help them at the same time. For example, she has written about LGBTQ issues and how LGBTQ teenagers are treated in schools.
When Chloe was looking into colleges, she knew that OU was the place for her.
“Gaylord is the reason why I wanted to go to OU. The students and staff are really nice. It seems like a good community,” she said.
After she gets into OU, she hopes to become the student body president,but she doesn’t want to stop there. She plans to run for public office, seeing through her drive to help people.
