By Kalvin Valdillez, Tulalip News
On the morning of April 25, Tulalip tribal member, Michelle Sheldon, accomplished her long-term goal of becoming an attorney. In a courtroom at the new Justice Department, Michelle was sworn-in to the Tulalip Tribes of Washington Office of Reservation Attorney (ORA). In attendance were her family; her father Greg, mother Heidi, sister Megan and her brother Joe; and also the Tulalip Board of Directors, showing their support of Michelle’s incredible accomplishment of becoming the first Tulalip tribal member to pass the Washington State Bar Exam.
“It’s interesting. On my very first day of law school, my first teacher instructed us to write down a list of people that we wanted at our graduation/swearing-in because that’s what would keep us going and I remember writing down my family’s names like it was yesterday,” recalls Michelle. “I was very proud to have my parents there and my brother and sister. It was so nice to be able to share that day with the people who encouraged me along the way. I was also incredibly honored that the Board came. It was a nice surprise. I was very humbled that they took the time out of their day to acknowledge my accomplishment. I felt really supported as a tribal member.”
Michelle’s journey to attorney was no easy feat. In fact, it took years of hard work and dedication to reach her goal.
“After high school, I earned my associates degree from Northwest Indian College, I was that year’s valedictorian,” she explains. “Throughout my educational journey, I’ve always worked full-time and always went to school as a night time distant learning student. When I was working on my associates and earning my undergrad bachelor’s degree, I was working at my family’s restaurant. As soon as I earned my degree, they sold the restaurant. So, I applied for a position with the Tribe. I started briefly in TGO before a position as file clerk opened up at beda?chelh. That’s when I was first exposed to the work of the Tribal attorneys working on behalf of the Tribe, the children and their families, really making Tulalip a healthy and whole community. I really appreciated their work.
“I was very excited when a position opened up at the Tulalip tribal court as a court clerk,” she continues. “I immediately went for that position and was very thankful to have gotten it. I think that position solidified my desire to get into the legal field. I’ve always been inspired with the area of law and justice, so I knew I wanted to get an undergrad degree in that area. I attended night classes at Colombia College at their Smokey Point location after work and earned my bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from there. Soon after, I enrolled through the Boston University distance program where I earned my paralegal certificate, kind of an introduction to the law area. I took a bit of a break between my master’s degree and pursuing a law degree, trying to figure out what I wanted to do career wise, what would be best for me and what could best benefit my community. And I thought, you know what, I’m going to go the extra mile, I want to pursue this.”
Michelle discovered that the Seattle University School of Law offered a night program and remembers applying multiple times before finally being accepted. At this point in her career, she was in her most recent position as the ORA Department Manager. For three years, after clocking-out at Tulalip Admin, she would hop onto I-5 to attend night classes in Seattle. Michelle claims that her positions with the Tribal Court and the ORA allowed her to gain useful experience that she was able to apply in law school.
“Michelle is truly an extraordinary individual,” states Tulalip Tribal Court Director, Wendy Church. “I’ve never had any doubt she would excel in her academic goals and now that she’s passed the State Bar Exam, the sky is the limit. Both Michael Taylor and Tim Brewer have expressed their appreciation of her work in ORA. She worked full-time and went to law school, which is truly remarkable. I think most importantly, she serves as a role model to our next generation of students with aspirations of careers in law.”
Michelle recalls advisors and teachers telling their students to not get set on the idea of working locally throughout the career, to keep an open mind and be prepared to work in different states.
“That was never an option for me,” says Michelle. “I lived on the reservation for most of my life, so I’m definitely a part of this community. I’ve always wanted to do something career and educational wise to where I can still work in my community and bring any knowledge and skills I learned off the reservation back to the reservation. Keeping Tulalip at heart was always at the forefront of my inspirations and goals.”
Michelle hopes to inspire young tribal members to pursue their degrees and encourages them to not give up on their journey when the waters get rough.
“It takes a lot of dedication and perseverance to pursue something,” expresses Michelle. “You make a lot of sacrifices, but if you’re prepared to do that, you definitely have the ability to achieve anything. I want people to know that no matter what your goal is or how big your dream is, as long as you stick with it, you will get there. I was very thankful to have a very supportive family. The tribe has been extremely supportive as well; they’ve been able to help with anything I’ve needed throughout the years. Having that support and knowing that people are thinking about you gives you that little extra boost. It always meant a lot. I hope this opens the wave of getting more tribal members interested in this field and considering it when they start their own educational journey. I hope that by sharing my journey, it shows that if you put the hard work in, you’ll get your reward at the end.”
Michelle wants to extend an open-invite to those who are considering pursuing a law degree, stating she can offer advice and application assistance as well as encouragement.
“It feels good to protect Tulalip’s best interest, knowing that we’re helping tribal members and saving our tribal land and our resources. It makes me feel good that we’re trying hard to do something good for Tulalip. We talk about the seven generations; we always want to think ahead. That’s what I appreciate, everyone’s thinking not just for today but for twenty years from now. My best advice for the next generation is, if I can do it, you can do it too.”