Steve Raining Bird loves being a father.

He gets a kick out of watching his 3-year-old son, Royce, run around and play with his friends. The path Raining Bird is headed in life is because of this toddler, who inspires him to be a role model.

"It makes it easier to come to school every day and keep going on and on," Raining Bird said. "Having a young son makes you want to push, and having a wife who won't let you give up."

Raining Bird will graduate with a degree in construction technology Friday from United Tribes Technical College. He earned the degree so that he can build his son and wife a house.

"I didn't want to be a carpenter,"he said. "I'll use it now to get by."

He'll work this summer with a construction crew. Once he and his wife know where they'll settle down, he'll build a house.

Raining Bird does what he needs to do for his family. When he and his wife, Rebekah Jarvey, first moved to Bismarck, he worked while she went to school. She is a student at the University of Mary and she also is graduating this weekend.

Then, he wanted to work on becoming a role model for Royce. He enrolled at United Tribes. He likes the atmosphere at the college, it reminds him of family, he said.

"My family is nine hours from here, so they became my family," he said. His family lives in Montana.

He learned academics, but also leadership and spirituality. He was involved in student Senate, carpentry club, Skills USA and the American Indian Higher Education Consortium student conferences. He was Mr. AIHECat the spring conference in Bismarck this year, as well as placing second in hand games and competing in speech.

The different tribes represented at the college increased his knowledge of American Indian traditions. He participated in sweats in the sweat lodge on campus, and learned the differences between how his tribe, the Chippewa Cree, perform the ceremony compared to the Lakota, for instance.

"They'll come, even if they're not Lakota and they'll respect the ways," Raining Bird said. "You learn other people's history and their chiefs like Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. You get a good background."

Raining Bird has a job lined up for the summer. His future plans, however, include another degree. He wants to be an elementary teacher.

Graduation is 1 p.m. Friday at Lone Star Arena on the United Tribes Technical College campus.

(Reach reporter Sara Kincaid at 250-8251 or sara.kincaid.) @bismarcktribune.com