C-CART scholar Sheena Greenstone featured in AZ Central

Sheena Greenstone grew up on the Navajo Nation. That’s where she learned to listen and be listened to, simple things that would later shape her life and her goals.

It’s also where she realized she wanted to become a counselor so she could give back by sharing that gift with her community.

It wasn’t an easy road. Her dad was an alcoholic, and her parents were divorced. Growing up with that conflict, moving back and forth between their houses, she said, left her wanting someone she could share her feelings with. Someone to be there for her.

Greenstone was lucky. She ended up with not one person but several people who were there for her, a support system that helped her through hard times and set her on her path.

Her aunt, her stepdad’s sister, made her feel comfortable, even if they were just doing chores around the house. She didn’t layer on the advice or even say much — she just gave Greenstone the presence of an adult who could understand what she was going through. That, Greenstone says, was powerful.