Ashton Glover says she comes "from a line of people who have worked really hard" and she needs to "continue that."
Glover, of Chickasaw and Choctaw heritage, was crowned Miss Indian Oklahoma City University 2010 Friday, March 5 in the Kerr McGee Auditorium in OCU Meinders School of Business
The 20-year-old junior from Mustang is working on double majors. Her academic success as well as involvement in various extracurricular activities show her hard work.
A self-described math and science person, Glover is studying cell and molecular biology with aspirations of working for the Indian Health Services.
She said she was inspired to serve Native Americans after a summer research program at the Native American Research Centers for Health (NARCH) in her freshman year.
"I enjoyed working with Native people and it has become a passion in the last few years," she said. "I want to continue my whole life."
Glover has also studied in Costa Rica, Peru, Mexico and Spain and worked with indigenous people there. Her experiences made her realize that "being able to speak the same language is very important," and led to her second major in Spanish.
"If we could speak the same language, it would open up so many barriers," Glover said.
Despite her busy schedule, Glover said she always makes sure "grades are taken care of first."
With a 3.85 cumulative GPA, she is a regular on the President's Honor Roll.
Glover said that her family encourages her to "live life of a high moral standard."
She also said she would "love to take some Chickasaw language classes" and was excited to find out that the Chickasaw Nation provides "Services at Large" for Chickasaws living outside the nation's boundary.
Glover's platform was "educating Native Americans across campus to promote healthy lifestyles in our community."
She is also raising awareness about math and science scholarships available to Native American students.
"Students would love to take advantage of these opportunities if they knew about them," Glover said. "There is so much that can be done in this area."
Some of Glover's achievements are:
Glover is the daughter of Brian and Sonya (Gibson) Glover of Mustang and granddaughter of late Herbert and Ethel (Perkins) Gibson. Mr. Gibson went to Goodland Indian School.
