Portraits of Enchantment 2022

There’s something special about being a first. The realization that you represent a community and the understanding that you will forever be more than just yourself. Your legacy for good or bad is cemented by your action or inaction. Dr. Valerie Romero-Leggott is a woman of action, a woman of firsts.  Growing up in Santa Fe in the 1970s, instilled Romero-Leggott with a strong sense of famila a...

As a Comanche woman, LaDonna Harris is a prominent leader for native rights. She holds the values of her tribe and people very close to her heart. Growing up in Oklahoma, she was raised in a multicultural background. Having respect for one another but keeping your values close at heart is part of the Comanche way of life. She recalled a story for me about how when she was growing up, the preacher in her grandmother's church was preaching against t...

Bruce Walker is an electrical engineer who grew up in a small town in Oklahoma. He has lived quite an interesting life from working at Sandia Labs for 37 years, to building model airplanes in his free time. When he was growing up he spent a lot of his time studying physical sciences and had an amazing teacher, Mr. Jefferys —who still to this day is his biggest influence.   He says that “he is one of those people ...

A young Notah Begay III (‘90) accompanies his father to one of his “nine hole league” games on a Thursday afternoon. He and his brother, Clint, went weekly with their dad. Notah says these are his first memories of the game that would shape much of the rest of his life. Mr. Begay always knew he’d play sports professionally, and it was totally possible with his killer athletic ability. During...

Most of the investigative journalism stories that pop up on your news feed probably consist of mass discoveries in the lives of major political figures or breakthroughs in decades-long cold crime cases. Sometimes, these headlines grasp our interest and never let go. Local investigations, though, are just as important. Annabella Farmer is a proud member of the New Mexico investigative journalism commun...

Curtis Beach ‘09 has been an athlete all his life. Growing up in an athletic family including an aunt and three uncles who all played college sports, Beach has been around sports as long as he can remember. Starting out in soccer at age seven, he very quickly discovered his true passion: running. Beach explained to me during our zoom interview, “Coach would make me run for, like punishment. An...

Trevor Martenson '94 is a man of many stories. A husband and father to five children, a family physician, hunter, and family friend of mine, Dr. Tevor, as I call him, is one of the most interesting people I know. Growing up, I would go on many hunts with him and his best friend, my dad, Eric Weinstein '94. As we drove hours off-road to get to a spot in rural New Mexico, hiking through various terrains...

Mitch Graham, a student at CNM pursuing a degree in Political Science and Government, who can solve a Rubik’s cube in 45 seconds and says Capital One made “a bad decision” by giving him a credit card, describes his life as “a series of fortunate accidents.” Yet, these seemingly random occurrences, from joining Highland High School’s DECA chapter to leading the Mayor’s Youth Advisory Council...