KU American Indian outreach director featured in 'Dream It, Do It' book

LAWRENCE -- What does Marigold Linton, director of American Indian outreach at the University of Kansas, have in common with Lance Armstrong, Tiger Woods, Gloria Estefan, Yo-Yo Ma, Maya Angelou, Barbara Walters, and Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter?

They all are people who made their dreams come true.

Linton is one of 37 people whose stories of achieving a dream are recorded in a new book, "Dream It, Do It, Inspiring Stories of Dreams Come True" by Sharon Cook and Graciela Sholander.

The authors gathered the stories of remarkable people, famous and not so famous, who exemplify the power of dreaming and the dedicated action necessary to transform a dream into reality.

Their stories are arranged according to 10 characteristics the authors identify as essential for realizing a dream: confidence, courage, commitment, creativity, purpose, passion, persistence, resilience, risk and responsibility. People who make their dreams come true tend to share several if not all of these characteristics, the authors note.

In a chapter on "Courage: Conquer Your Fears," Linton's college experience as the only American Indian on her campus becomes an example of having the courage to overcome fear of failure. Lance Armstrong exemplifies courage to overcome fear of surviving cancer. The business achievements of a Vietnamese refugee mother of two young children demonstrate the courage to pursue a dream of a better life despite arriving in the United States with no money and speaking no English.

Linton says she didn't know in advance that her story would be alongside those of so many with famous names. "I was amazed and immediately bought 10 copies for my nearest and dearest," she said.

"I think the book illustrates that there are lots of dreams; there are lots of ways to achieve them. There are thousands of other stories that would have been as compelling as those that did appear."

Linton grew up in poverty on the Morongo Indian reservation in southern California in the 1940s. She had dreamed of going to college since her eighth-grade teacher had encouraged her to do so. She had been an outstanding student and had saved some money for college. Yet when she left the reservation to enroll as a freshman, she knew no one on the reservation who had attended college -- or who expected her to succeed.

Her first semester at the University of California at Riverside tested her courage. There were no peers to coach her about things beyond her reservation experiences -- such as catching a bus for class or worse, pulling a cord to signal the driver to stop.

Linton remembers being so fearful of appearing foolish in class that she never talked and ran out of the room in tears if asked to speak. Fearing she would fail, Linton spent most of her first semester studying. When she received a report card with all A grades, she told the registrar she believed the A's belonged to someone else.

"They thought I was crazy. It took a very long time before I believed that I might be successful," Linton told the authors. Years later Linton learned she was the first California reservation Indian to leave the reservation to attend a university.

The authors point out that courage has helped Linton "not only reach her own dreams but encourage a new generation of American Indians to do the same."

At KU, Linton collaborates with faculty and students at KU and Haskell Indian Nations University. KU and Haskell faculty partner to administer more than $12 million in National Institutes of Health grant programs that encourage American Indian students to pursue biomedical science careers. Her faculty partners are James Orr, chair of KU's biosciences division; C. Russ Middaugh, KU distinguished professor of pharmaceutical chemistry; and Dennis O'Malley in Haskell's chemistry department. More than 60 KU faculty members encourage American Indian students to participate in their laboratories.

The NIH grants help minority students succeed in "gateway" courses. One of these, the 500 Nations Bridge Program, recently was selected from among 96 grants nationally to be featured as a model program for an internal federal report.

Before joining KU's administration in 1998, Linton directed the American Indian Programs at Arizona State University in Tempe and worked with the tribes in Arizona to improve math and science education.

She received her bachelor's degree from the University of California, Riverside, and her Ph.D. in experimental psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles. Linton taught psychology at both San Diego State University and the University of Utah. Her research area involves the examination of very long-term memory.

The authors note that Linton's story demonstrates that "making a plan and sticking to it can help you develop courage and overcome fear."

Linton, who began saving for college even before she really understood what college was, says, "You have to imagine your future -- and plan for it." She says she still is planning -- at least through age 95.

Her plans up to age 94? Linton's list includes continuing to encourage young Indian artists by purchasing their work, continuing her own work in photography and writing about her relatives, continuing to exercise with tennis "if I can still play decently," continuing her research and finally continuing her loving relationship with her husband, Robert E. Barnhill, dean-in-residence for the National Science Foundation/Council of Graduate Schools in Washington, D.C.