Every child learns their ABCs, whether it be through a song or with pictures. When I was little my room was lined with alphabet cards. Each card had a letter and an animal that started with that letter on it. With these cards, going to sleep, waking up and playing in my room that I shared with my little sister involved looking at the alphabet. Even though I had already learned my ABCs in school, having the cards reinforced what I had learned and allowed my little sister to learn them before she did in school. When she went to kindergarten she already knew how to spell quetzal, the name of a small bird found in Guatemala that also happened to be the animal pictured on the "Q" card taped to our wall.
Whether it was on purpose or by accident, through putting those cards on our walls, our parents filled our days with learning. They enforced the learning of not only the alphabet but also the spelling of names of animals and what they looked like. Every night before I drifted off to sleep I read the cards and looked at the pictures, making sure that each picture and letter was ingrained in my brain before I closed my eyes. This was one of their first of many steps towards making sure that we were given every opportunity to learn and to expand our knowledge. From reading to us constantly to talking with us and having discussions with us, they encouraged us to learn new things everyday. My little sister went on to go through a phase of knowing every name of any dinosaur you could think of, my little brother, as his friends at school like to call him, is a "resident bird expert." With everything that my parents did they encouraged learning over meaningless activities. When I am asked what TV shows I watched as a child, I can name a few but it is easier for me to name my favorite climbing tree at my childhood home. For the most part my siblings and I played outside climbing trees and catching lizards, learning hands-on about the world around us. Whether or not it was because of those ABC cards on our walls, my sisters and I were brought up with a love of learning new things that is still strong in all of us today.

In the second half of the book, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, Junior begins to face even more discrimination on the reservation for his choice to leave for school. However the students and teachers at Reardan slowly start to accept him. Before he is really brought in as one of their own, Junior faces some issues. One of these issues is the teachers thinking he isn't smart just because of where he comes from. A particular incident was when his science teacher claimed petrified wood was wood, Junior knew that it was actually made of minerals that over time replace the actual wood but stay in the same shape. When he tried to tell the teacher this, he just wrote him off, but then when the so-called class genius said the same thing the Junior did, he was praised. "I remember when people used to think I was smart. I remember when people used to think my brain was useful" (pg. 86), having the teacher just be quick to assume that because of his skin-color or where comes from he isn't smart enough made Junior feel like he wasn't smart enough even though he was.
After the incident with the science teacher, Junior attempts to make friends with the class genius, Gordy. Through the help of his new friend, Gordy, Junior learns that while it is important to be a part of a community, he also has to figure out who he is without the community. This is exactly what being shunned by his tribe members from the reservation lets him discover.
Along with his hardships with his tribe and the lessening troubles at school, Junior is hit with  unexpected loss. First his grandmother, who he looked up to as a role model, gets hit by a drunk driver and dies in emergency surgery. Then his dad's best friend, who was like an uncle to him, is shot in the face after a bar brawl. Filled with grief, Junior misses a lot of school and when he eventually does come back, one of his teachers decides it's a good time to mock him for missing so much school. She says"... I didn't realize you still went to this school..." and when she does Gordy stands up and drops his textbook on the ground, every single other student in the class follows suit and they walk out. Through this, they show Junior that they love him, that they will have his back. That is more than his tribe on the reservation ever did. By stepping out of his comfort zone and challenging himself through going to a new school, he proved his worth, not just to others but to himself as well. He learns that "[t]he world is only broken into two tribes: The people who are a**holes and the people who are not" (pg. 176), he figured out that it doesn't matter what color your skin is, it matters if you are kind, and if you stick up for the people around you. 
Another big part of Junior's life, both at Reardan and back when he went to school on the reservation, is basketball. When he was going to school on the reservation, his former best friend, Rowdy, was always more aggressive and scored more points. However, when he got to Reardan and made the Varsity team, he became good because that was what was expected of him. He calls this "[t]he power of expectations" (pg. 180). His team, his coach, and himself expected more of him so he rose to those expectations. When it came down to playing the high school on his reservation, he was nervous, and scared but his coach knew he could do it. "Do you understand how amazing it is to hear [you can do it] from an adult? Do you know how amazing it is to hear that from anybody? It's one of the simplest sentences in the world, just four words, but they're the four hugest words in the world when they're put together" (pg. 189). Having someone believe in him was what he needed not only for winning that important game, but for succeeding in school and in life. By leaving the reservation, and actively searching for a better chance in life Junior found a community full of adults and students he could depend on and who wouldn't just look at him as a scrawny somewhat deformed kid, but as a young man who could one day make a difference, and "be remembered" (pg. 112).

Not many kids have the guts that Junior did when he decided to chase his chance at a better life, nor do they have the kind of support he did. He was lucky that his parents wanted him to succeed and wanted him to chase his dreams. The environment he was in at the high school on the reservation wasn't one where he would be able to thrive, not just because of the lack of funds the school had, but also because of the number of kids who picked on him. By transferring, he not only gave himself a better chance, he also gave himself a better learning environment where he was surrounded by people who believed in him.
I am extremely lucky and fortunate that my parents are able to provide me an amazing education, but most importantly that they believe I can accomplish my goals and succeed. Having a support system is very important and something that is hard to do well in school without for the majority of students.