In 1891, wanting more education, Zitkála-Šá decided at age fifteen to return to the White's Indiana Manual Labor Institute. She planned to gain more through her education than simply becoming a housekeeper, a role the school anticipated most female students would pursue. She studied piano and violin and started to teach music at White's after the music teacher resigned. In June 1895, when Zitkála-Šá was awarded her diploma, she gave a speech on the inequality of women's rights, which received high praise from the local newspaper.