#morningread

The story of Susan La Flesche’s calling begins on an evening in 1873 on the Omaha Native American Reservation in Nebraska. She was just eight years old then, a child. But that night, she sat amongst others at the bedside of a gravely ill woman who desperately needed medical attention.
Everyone waited as a messenger rushed out to get the U.S. government-appointed doctor who served the reservation. There were no Native American physicians in the country at the time. The night passed, but the physician never came. Apparently, he would later remark that he simply didn’t want to. The woman died before morning.
That memory stayed with Susan and shaped a promise she would keep long after she understood its significance. No one should die for lack of care. This belief would lead her to become the first Native American woman to earn a medical degree, and then to a career practicing on the same reservation where she grew up.

Vocabulary:

calling – a strong inner purpose or mission

gravely ill – extremely sick

desperately – urgently, very seriously

appointed doctor – doctor officially assigned by authorities

physician – medical doctor

remark – say or comment

significance – importance

lack of care – absence of medical treatment

#morningread

The Omaha Nation had lived for generations along the broad sweep of the Missouri River. Their lives there followed the seasons, an old and steady rhythm of summers spent in agricultural villages where they tended corn, beans, and squash, and the colder months on the plains in pursuit of the buffalo. In cultural practice, they maintained a carefully ordered clan system and a diplomatic tradition that placed great value on consensus and balance, reflecting their broader belief in maintaining harmony both within the tribe and with their neighbors.
But by the mid-19th century, U.S. westward expansion had brought immense pressure on the tribe to cede their homelands. In 1854, the Omaha signed a treaty giving up most of their territory and establishing a reservation along the Missouri River in northeast Nebraska. This area would be reduced again in subsequent agreements. Life as they had known it was profoundly altered, with decisions about their governance now under the authority of the U.S. Indian Agency, and often in competition with the long-held tradition of rule by chiefs.

Vocabulary:

broad sweep – wide stretch

tended – cared for or grew (crops)

in pursuit of – chasing or searching for

clan system – family-based social structure

consensus – general agreement

harmony – peaceful balance

immense pressure – extremely strong force or influence

cede – give up territory

treaty – formal agreement between groups/governments

profoundly altered – deeply changed

governance – the way a community is ruled

#stoicwisdom

You know exactly what you should do next.

The decision you’ve been circling. It’s there, waiting for you to acknowledge it.

So why haven’t you done it yet?

Because doing it means finding out whether you’re capable of what you hope you’re capable of.

Right now, in this moment of inaction, you get to preserve the fantasy. You could succeed if you tried. You have potential. You’re just waiting for the right moment, the right mood, the right alignment of circumstances.

But potential without action is just a story you tell yourself about who you might become instead of evidence of who you actually are.

Marcus Aurelius wrote:

Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one.

#morningread

Susan was born into this context in 1865, as the Omaha people were still adjusting to this new chapter in their history. She was the youngest daughter of Iron Eye, one of the last formally recognized chiefs, and his wife, Mary Gale. Iron Eye believed that America was rapidly changing and that Native Americans needed to integrate into the more dominant society around them; that the tribe’s future would depend on education and adaptability. So he made sure that Susan and her siblings learned English, attended school, and understood the American world. Yet at home, the family remained firmly rooted in their own culture. They spoke the Omaha language, attended tribal gatherings, and told their ancestral stories.
By her teens, Susan had shown a remarkable intelligence. Her teachers saw it, and so did the leaders of the Presbyterian missionary organizations that supported the education of Native students. With their help, she left the reservation to attend school in New Jersey, where she was the only Native student in her class. Which wasn’t easy. There she encountered “praise” for her supposedly “civilized” manners. Still, she excelled in her studies.

Vocabulary:

integrate – join into a larger society

dominant society – the most powerful cultural group

rooted in – strongly connected to

tribal gatherings – group meetings of the community

ancestral – related to ancestors

remarkable intelligence – exceptional intelligence

missionary organizations – religious groups involved in education

encountered – came across, faced

civilized manners – behavior considered polite by outsiders

excelled – performed extremely well

Correct answer: perceived area

Explanation:

Text:
an imaginary zone, stretching from the batter’s knees to the middle of his chest.

Question:
a perceived area, extending from the batter’s knee to his chest.

#morningread

Part IV

In 1886, Susan applied and received admission to the Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania, one of the few medical schools in the country that accepted women. She arrived in Philadelphia with the dream of becoming a physician for her people. When she graduated with top honors in 1889, she became the first Native American woman in the United States to earn a medical degree. After completing a year-long internship at the Woman’s Hospital of Philadelphia, she returned to the Omaha Reservation to begin her practice.
Returning home was a triumph, though it came with many challenges. Illnesses spread quickly on the reservation, worsened by poverty and inadequate federal support. Homes were drafty in a land of brutal winters. Food was often scarce. And trust in doctors thin. Susan understood these hardships poignantly.

Vocabulary:

admission – official acceptance
physician – medical doctor
top honors – highest academic recognition
internship – practical training period
practice – professional work as a doctor
triumph – major victory or success
inadequate – insufficient, not enough
drafty – letting cold air in
scarce – not enough / limited
poignantly - causing a sharp feeling of sadness

#morningread

Part V

The Omaha had long relied on their own medicine people, who cared for the tribe through plants, ceremony, and spiritual balance. Their role remained vital. But the diseases that swept through the reservation in the 19th century were new, devastating illnesses brought by contact and confinement. Traditional remedies could only do so much. The government-appointed doctor was supposed to fill that void, yet he was often unreliable. As the need for dependable care grew, Susan’s ability to move between both worlds became all the more essential.
She became the reservation physician at a salary less than half that of a doctor outside the reservation. But the salary mattered little to her. What she wanted was to care for the families on the Omaha lands. And that’s what she did, often riding miles on horseback at all hours and through every kind of weather. She treated fevers, set broken bones, delivered babies, counseled grieving parents, and advocated relentlessly for sanitary reforms. She even assisted families with financial decisions and paperwork. Beyond the community, she pressed the federal government for better funding, sometimes receiving little more than promises. But Susan kept treating and advocating.

Useful Vocabulary

1. Medicine people - Traditional Native American healers who use plants, rituals, and spiritual practices to care for their community.

Example: Before modern doctors, the Omaha tribe relied on medicine people for healing.

2. Sweep through - When something (usually a disease or event) spreads quickly across a place.

Example: The new diseases swept through the reservation and made many people sick.

3. Traditional remedies - Natural or cultural treatments used before modern medicine, often made from plants.
Example: Traditional remedies helped with many illnesses, but they could not cure the new diseases.

4. Could only do so much- There is a limit to what someone or something can achieve; it cannot fix everything.

Example: Traditional medicine could only do so much against the deadly new infections.

5. At all hours- At any time of day or night; constantly.

Example: Susan visited sick families at all hours, even in bad weather.

6. Advocate (verb)- to speak up or fight for a cause, especially to improve conditions.

Example: She advocated for better healthcare and cleaner living conditions on the reservation.

7. Sanitary reforms- Changes or improvements that make places cleaner and healthier (better hygiene, cleaner water, safer environments).

Example: Susan pushed for sanitary reforms to prevent disease from spreading.

8. To press- to push strongly for something; to demand action from authorities.

Example: She pressed the government for more funding, even when they gave only promises.

9. To fill the void - to provide something that is missing or needed; to replace something that should be there but isn’t.

Example: When the store closed, a new shop opened to fill the void in the neighborhood.

#DailyReminder

30 more days to go before 2026

#commonmistakes

Can you spot the mistake without consulting your friend GPT?

Some of us did our teaching practice in the countryside.

The answer with an explanation will be sent within an hour.

Australia just made a move no other country has dared to try: a nationwide ban blocking anyone under 16 from using social media starting December 2025. That includes Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube, Facebook and X.

The rule puts full responsibility on platforms — not parents — to keep kids off their apps. If they fail, they could face fines reaching AUD $49.5M.

Officials say the goal is simple: protect young users as AI-powered feeds and addictive design make it harder for teens to disconnect. Supporters call it a necessary step. Critics warn it might limit access to positive communities and raise serious privacy questions around age verification.

I came across this interesting article on the current climate crisis in Uzbekistan.

https://timesca.com/tashkent-launches-emergency-measures-as-air-pollution-worsens/

#CommonMistakes

Spot the mistake:

“The first thing that comes to my mind when I think about France is wine.”

P.S. this example sentence is from a book, so don’t be offended. 😄

The answer with an explanation will be sent shortly.

come/spring to mind (WITHOUT my, his, their, etc):

When I’m planning a camping holiday, the first thing that comes to mind is the weather.