At 19, Mesa Community College student Nakota Hunts-in-Winter is a Grammy-nominated musician, plays bass in a local band, is founder of a popular campus music jam club and is a leader in the autism and Native American campus communities, all while working toward an Associate’s Degree in Audio Production Technology.
Nakota will graduate in December 2025 and plans to transfer into Arizona State University’s pop music program. “I hope to take the knowledge I’ve learned from school and mostly use it to open my own studio to record different musicians around the Valley.” He also plans to continue making his own music. “I’ve been playing bass since I was 10 years old and I play with a few local bands,” he added. “I don’t think that’s something I’ll ever give up.”
The Tempe resident, whose family comes from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North and South Dakota-Dakota/Lakota, selected MCC because “universities are a huge step for me. I just wanted to take it slow and find something that nicely fit my pace and MCC was the perfect choice for me.”
While at MCC Nakota has distinguished himself as a Phi Theta Kappa member who has taken a leadership role within the college community, regularly meeting with fellow Native American students in the Inter-tribal Student Organization to ”maintain our culture.” He also serves as a role model connecting struggling students with others who share their goals and interests to aid in socialization and overcoming obstacles to their academic success.
“I see so many people, including some of my friends, who want to achieve certain goals but just don’t feel they can because of setbacks they’ve experienced. I find that I can show it’s possible to achieve those goals. That’s what I really want to do–help people.”
Driven by his compassion to help others, he created the popular MCC Jam Club. “I wanted to find an outlet for musicians around campus to get together, get to know each other and just have a good time jamming out with each other,” he said. ”I found a lot of musicians weren’t connected. The jazz people kind of stuck with the jazz people and the orchestra people stuck with their group. I just wanted to open up a community where everyone is welcome.” One of the club’s successes is the sponsorship of the highly successful Jam Club Open Mic held once a semester bringing together musicians and attendees embracing many musical genres.
Forming the club was second nature to him. When he was 15, Nakota discovered Alice Cooper’s Valley-based Solid Rock Teen Club which put him in touch with the young music community and built his confidence and his music credibility.
It was at the club that Nakota was selected to play bass on Alice’s song, Now I’m Mr. Nice Guy, a remake of his earlier classic hit, No More Mr. Nice Guy, for his Grammy-nominated children’s album, Solid Rock Revival. The album didn’t win but it didn’t matter to Nakota. “I was really excited for the opportunity. It just felt so surreal to be a part of it.” The teen center also enabled him to meet Camille Sledge of Sister Sledge and to play with Brian “Head” Welch of the nu metal band, Korn, at 17.
“What I mostly learned from Alice is that it’s best to stay humble, stay focused on yourself and don’t let others deter you from achieving what you want to achieve,” he said, adding that the club also helped him improve his communication skills.
While guiding students to the numerous programs and resources MCC offers to help in their academic success, Nakota takes advantage of these opportunities, too. Enrolled in the TRIO program, which assists low-income, first-generation and students with disabilities, he also works within the program to help participants make friends on campus and become comfortable with talking to others.
He has sought help from the Disability Resource Center which assists in securing accommodations for classes he needs to graduate. “Sometimes certain classes stress me out and I struggle a little bit with time,” he explained.
Crediting his counselor, adjunct faculty member Pamela Burke Cowing, with making a significant impact on his time spent at MCC, he said, “She has helped me not only in my education but in my everyday life. She really changed how my life works by giving me a lot of different coping skills and has shown me ways to navigate through college.”
As well as providing an outlet for learning audio engineering, “MCC has given me the access to what will eventually become the audio engineering community of the future,” he explained. “I’ve been able to make connections and network with people who will form a strong community in the coming years.”
To those potential students considering enrolling at MCC, he is adamant that they should pursue their dreams starting there. ”At times it will be tough and there will be classes or course work you may not want to do but you have to think about how it will benefit you in the future and the career goals you want to accomplish.”
Photo credit: Hollywood Photo Studios