Temperance (Tempe) Calhoun-Esqueda first experienced college life from the stands, attending a 2018 “Green vs. White” Ducks game during a Friends of the Children field trip. She remembers catching a football.

In fall 2026, she’ll return to the University of Oregon—this time not as a spectator, but as a full-scholarship student of the class of 2030.

Asked if she feels proud, Tempe is characteristically humble. “I’m just so excited,” she says. Her path to this moment hasn’t been easy. During the elementary school years, Tempe experienced the sudden loss of her mom and time in foster care. She credits her resilience to the steady presence of her mentor, her “Friend” Anne Taylor.“ Anne T helped me realize how strong I am and encouraged me to keep going, no matter how hard life hit me,” Tempe says. “She helped me become the person I am today.”

That person is a soft-spoken but determined leader. For her senior project at Chiloquin High School, Tempe identified a gap in the district’s Indigenous history curriculum. She went on to teach three middle school classes covering Indian boarding schools and the cultural traditions they tried to erase. At the same time, she organized 12 fundraisers to send her classmates to Honolulu—the school’s first Senior Class Trip in eight years. As a first-generation college student, Tempe plans to study history or English, earn her teaching certification, and return home to serve and inspire her Chiloquin community. “I believe education is a foundational part of life for success,” she says.

Tempe’s dad and the entire Friends of the Children team are cheering her on, confident that this time on campus, Tempe will catch hold of a future rooted in resilience, purpose, and possibility.