Public relations hold the power to shape public narratives, influence opinions, and drive social change. In recent years, the importance of diverse voices in public relations has gained recognition. Embracing a wide range of perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences not only fosters inclusivity but also enables the crafting of more authentic and effective public narratives. Body Diverse voices in public relations play a crucial role in challenging prevalent stereotypes and biases. By sharing stories and experiences from marginalized communities, we can expose societal injustices and foster empathy. These narratives provide an opportunity to humanize issues, debunk misconceptions, and bridge gaps between different groups. Through accurate representation, diverse voices can dismantle ingrained biases and reshape public perceptions. For example, campaigns featuring diverse voices can challenge racial stereotypes, break down gender norms, and challenge societal prejudices. By amplifying diverse narratives, we contribute to a more inclusive society where marginalized voices are heard and valued. Inclusive public relations ensure that various voices are represented and considered in the communication process. This inclusivity strengthens the authenticity of public narratives by incorporating different cultural, ethnic, gender, and socioeconomic perspectives. By valuing diversity, we can avoid tokenism and engage in meaningful storytelling that resonates with diverse audiences. Authenticity builds trust, credibility, and a sense of belonging, enhancing the impact of public relations efforts. For instance, by involving representatives from marginalized communities in the development of campaigns or messaging, we can ensure that narratives are respectful, accurate, and relevant. By amplifying diverse voices, we create spaces for underrepresented groups, empowering them and fostering a sense of inclusion. Public relations plays a significant role in shaping narratives on a global scale. In an interconnected world, diverse voices enable us to develop a better understanding of different cultural contexts, norms, and values. By embracing diverse perspectives, we can avoid cultural insensitivity and ensure messages are tailored to specific audiences. This cultural competence not only avoids unintended offense but also fosters a deeper connection and mutual understanding across diverse communities. For example, when crafting international public relations campaigns, involving individuals from different cultural backgrounds ensures that narratives are respectful and resonate with the intended audience. By incorporating diverse voices, we can effectively navigate cultural nuances, expand global perspectives, and establish meaningful connections with diverse communities worldwide. Diverse voices in public relations are crucial for social change and advocacy. By amplifying underrepresented voices, we can shed light on social issues, mobilize support, and influence policy. Public relations campaigns can bring attention to systemic inequalities and call for action, driving meaningful change. For instance, diverse voices in public relations have played a pivotal role in advocacy efforts for LGBTQ+ rights, gender equality, racial justice, and environmental sustainability. By giving a platform to marginalized voices, we can create a powerful impact and inspire individuals to join in collective action. Through storytelling, strategic communication, and collaboration with diverse communities, we can actively shape public narratives, bringing about positive social transformation. The power of diverse voices in public relations is undeniable. By challenging stereotypes, promoting inclusivity and authenticity, enhancing cultural competence, and driving social change, we can shape public narratives that are representative, equitable, and impactful. In a world that is becoming increasingly diverse, we have a responsibility to ensure that the voices and experiences of all communities are heard and respected. By harnessing the power of diverse voices, public relations can become a force for positive change, driving social progress and building a more inclusive and equitable society.

Growing up in low-middle-class Oregon limited my opportunities as a student. Studying languages, running for Cross Country and Track, and going to college, I did it all on my own. My grandparents, who I lived with most of my life, weren't able to support these ambitions of mine because they were always busy getting my relatives out of legal and financial trouble, or ensuring that we could continue paying for the house my grandfather built. 12 years ago, my parents divorced, and that's a night that I'll never forget. After some tense conflicts, moving around houses, and seeing dozens of people with clipboards and questions that never seemed to end, my 3 siblings and I moved in with our migrant grandmother and Irish-Filipino grandfather. My grandmother came to Oregon on the back of a pickup truck 60 years ago, while my grandfather grew up in a rural town in Oregon. They met while my grandmother was grocery shopping at the same shop my grandfather worked at. She lived in a migrant camp, taking care of her younger siblings. They both cared for our family in ways it seemed nobody else could. They gave us a place to call home, at a time when our parents couldn't. Our family has been in the small town of Yamhill Oregon for decades. It wasn’t until I got older that I could leave the nest and pursue my interests. Their strong-willed mindsets would influence our growth as children. In September 2022, I moved to Portland, Oregon to pursue an education at Portland Community College. Being an 18-year-old first-generation college student of Hispanic background, I faced various challenges in adjusting to my new environment. Understanding public transportation, finding a new support system, studying full-time, and continuing to push myself in ways I’ve never done before. My family's conflicts and financial struggles kept me from reaching my goals, and have led me to be both flexible with the unexpected and ambitious about traveling. Before Covid, I was deterred and unmotivated by the years of not being able to explore my interests due to financial limitations, but all of this changed during quarantine. After spending weeks isolated in my bedroom experiencing high school through a virtual screen, I managed to escape the dread. I studied Spanish and mathematics through autodidact studies, and I started going on runs around my town. Learning Spanish opened my eyes in ways I never thought were possible. I realized that Languages are keys to unlocking cultures, and these cultures show our differences as people. These self-studies were impactful for me and they laid the groundwork for what would become a lifelong interest of learning and helping others. By the time we went back to in-person learning my senior year, I had a new mindset that would help me reach new milestones and academic goals. My dream is to be a teacher of English as a second language, to help others achieve their goal of learning English. Through getting to know international students, I've gotten the chance to help so many individuals achieve their goal of learning English while learning about their language and culture. That's the beauty of teaching. You can make the learning process for students easier than was is for you, and at the same time learn from your students in surprising ways. Ever the past several years, I have had the opportunity to work directly with my peers in Spanish, English, and Italian, helping them with schoolwork while building a meaningful connection.

Coming into high school, I wondered what I was going to make of it. I was a very different person then, I didn't have a lot of hobbies and I kept to myself most of the time. Everyone was taking a Spanish class because it was required to get a foreign arts credit, and so it was either 2 years of Spanish or an art class (most people chose Spanish). My older sister and brother had already had the Spanish teacher at my high school and I didn't know her very well, but when I entered my Spanish class for the first time I was enticed by her Spanish and the objects from Latin American countries that were hung on the wall. During my 3 years in Spanish class, including a year of Controlled Distance Learning, I learned how to learn. My Spanish teacher would periodically give us pointers on how to better memorize the Spanish she was teaching us. After my third year of Spanish, I continued to use the practices she taught me to further my understanding of Spanish--and as a result--I was able to learn Spanish and communicate well with others. It was because of her teaching that I was able to give myself the ability to find what it is I want to do with my life, to learn languages. Growing up, my family didn't have the same views on education that I did. I wanted to complete high school and go to university so I could further my education, but they wanted me to drop out and go to trade school. For a very long time, I didn't know what I wanted to do. It wasn't until my third year of high school that I decided I wanted to become a lawyer, and that was what sent me on my path to university. Even though I changed the reason why I wanted to go to university, I always had the same reason to go to college, to improve my education. Going to a 4-year college or university became my most important goal, and it was why I decided to continue improving my grades throughout high school. By pursuing my career through college or university, I can use the resources given to me to further my education through studies and courses not offered in my small town, and above all, I can achieve my ambitions of changing the world.

Helping others and assisting them to achieve their goals has always been my greatest desire. Whether it's taking the trash out, or helping my peer with math homework, it's my pleasure to help others. Through learning languages, I have gotten to chance to help so many individuals be able to achieve their goals of learning English while allowing them to help me learn their native language. That's the beauty of mentoring, that you are able to teach others what you have learned as a way of further solidifying it into your mind, and then being taught by those who you are teaching. This being my final year of high school, and one of the most important years of my life, I have had the pleasure of tutoring many of my peers on Spanish. Through the help of my teachers, I have been given permission to become an official student mentor to a classroom of students. Some students I've mentored one-on-one daily, and it's always a treat to see that I can help them engage in courses from the perspective of a fellow peer. My dream is to be a teacher of English as a second language traveling around the world to educate others, both young and old, on speaking English. My goal is to learn languages and use them as bridges to cross the languages barriers we have in this world while helping others achieve their goals and learning all about the world.

In a world full of information and guidance that sometimes even counters itself, it can be difficult to figure out the path to a long and healthy life. Though the rise of media has brought an age of information, this surplus of information can create a hurdle. Especially right now with a global pandemic and global conflicts all over the news, people are losing hope. It's important that during these moments of panic,t to always stay true to yourself. Being true to yourself means doing what you feel is in your heart, and not letting the opinions of other people turn you away from your own. The modern-day internet has brought average people into the spotlight as "internet celebrities", and with that, have come followers. These internet celebrities are often admired for their charisma, but the followers will find it in their interest to mimic the fashion or personality of the celebrities. This disingenuine behavior leads to dissatisfaction and a feeling of emptiness. Choosing to wear an article of clothing because it was "trending" is an example of living without being true to yourself. Feeling that you want to wear a different shirt from your favorite indie band, but decided not to because it's not popular, is a choice that is followed by unfulfillment. Living true to yourself is the best way to a long healthy life. Not being deterred by others, but instead following your heart and mind. As Cass Elliot sang in 1969: "You gotta make your own kind of music ... even if nobody else sings along."

Covid has been a trying time for me, but despite all the hardships I have gone through I am thankful for what I learned during my time in quarantine. Prior to the two years I spent stuck inside my room, I was ill-mannered and had a bad temper. There was nothing more that I wanted than to go into my room after school and play video games with my friends all through the night, waking up with just barely enough time to catch the bus and get to school. Withing the time to get ready, I always forgot something. Sometimes it was forgetting to brush my teeth or to use deodorant, and other times it was forgetting to tie my shoes or comb my hair. I always left the house a mess, I felt like a mess, and underneath all of the dark-colored clothes was a boy with an "I'm too good for school attitude". I can recall what I felt the final Friday before they had given us an early release from school for a week as a result of covid. My and my friends talked about how we would spend the extra week–which we called a "two-week long spring break”--playing video games. As soon as I got home that Friday I went straight to my computer to play Overwatch, Fornite, stay up late with my friends, and ignore the school work we had. I felt like I could just kick back and ignore everything that was going on in the world, all of the problems with my family, the stress of school, and my failing grades. it was a break from reality. During the summer of 2019, my friend and I got a job at a vineyard packaging frozen fruits into boxes. We were working eight-hour days Monday through Friday, and this was the start of my mental health rejuvenation. My grandfather used his tracker to turn the soil at the bottom of the hill we lived on, and we made a garden to grow fresh produce. Suddenly my life went from waking up at noon and getting on my computer to meet my friends, to waking up at six in the morning to pull the heavy hose out from the side of the house and water the plants with enough time to shower, eat breakfast, and go to work. Despite what had originally come upon me like a heavy brick weighing me down, I can confidently say that waking up every day to the symphony of the morning birds, the cold morning dew, and the exigency of needing to be on time, is something that has changed me for the better. I had never felt more capable and good about myself. My friend and I continued to work through the summer until the start of school in the fall when we traded in our work time for school time. The school was online, and as a result of that, there wasn't as much pressure as there is in a physical setting. I remember for a moment time I would wake up with just enough time to roll out of bed and join the zoom class to be treated by my peers who didn't seem to want to show their faces, but of course, I didn't either. I went back to my old schedule of playing games during the off-time and just getting my school work done to a passing level. As most kids have agreed, the online school was harder. It was especially hard for my mental state. At least at school I got to see my friends and I didn't feel alone, but the brown walls that surround me every day made me feel enclosed in a box personalized to my liking. In order to try and snap back into the habits I gained during my time working, I started waking up early and working out, making myself breakfast and lunch, and going for runs in the morning. I felt amazing, and it was because of these habit changes that I started to feel better. Covid put me in a position of solitude, to the point that I felt the need to escape. Quarantine had started as a sad moment for me, and although it has been a struggle for the whole world, you would always find me running up and down the main street of my small little time every morning. After my Junior year of high school, during the summer I would spend 3 hours every day studying Spanish. This came as a drive for me to feel productive and to try and understand the people around me who spoke Spanish. What started as a need for basic income, became a change of lifestyle for me. I started to communicate more with people through learning Spanish, and as a result, my social health had increased tenfold. I was no longer afraid to make mistakes, and I didn’t feel the need to avoid conversation because of my social anxiety. Over the past two years, I have become a different person, one who I can say that I am proud to be. My contribution and attention to my mental and physical health allowed me to see the world through a more proactive and optimistic mindset, lead me to develop better connections with my family and friends, and showed me the path to focus on my education. It's through this momentum that I wish to become a teacher and hopefully help other students find the same motivation I did.

Coming into high school, I wondered what I was going to make of it. I was a very different person then, I didn't have a lot of hobbies and I kept to myself most of the time. Everyone was taking a Spanish class because it was required to get a foreign arts credit, and so it was either 2 years of Spanish or an art class (most people chose Spanish). My older sister and brother had already had the Spanish teacher at my high school and I didn't know her very well, but when I entered my Spanish class for the first time I was enticed by her Spanish and the objects from Latin American countries that were hung on the wall. During my 3 years in Spanish class, including a year of Controlled Distance Learning, I learned how to learn. My Spanish teacher would periodically give us pointers on how to better memorize the Spanish she was teaching us. After my third year of Spanish, I continued to use the practices she taught me to further my understanding of Spanish--and as a result--I was able to learn Spanish and communicate well with others. It was because of her teaching that I was able to give myself the ability to find what it is I want to do with my life, to learn languages. Growing up, my family didn't have the same views on education that I did. I wanted to complete high school and go to university so I could further my education, but they wanted me to drop out and go to trade school. For a very long time, I didn't know what I wanted to do. It wasn't until my third year of high school that I decided I wanted to become a lawyer, and that was what sent me on my path to university. Even though I changed the reason why I wanted to go to university, I always had the same reason to go to college, to improve my education. Going to a 4-year college or university became my most important goal, and it was why I decided to continue improving my grades throughout high school. By pursuing my career through college or university, I can use the resources given to me to further my education through studies and courses not offered in my small town, and above all, I can achieve my ambitions of changing the world.

Currently in my last year of high school, and on the Track team, I’m busy. Instead of spending my lunchtime walking down to the local convenience store to buy hot food with my friends, I’m in the library with my laptop open studying the same set of words as yesterday, and enjoying a cold lunch made at home. This summer was the same, except with my stationed desktop computer and more free time. In addition, several hours of Spanish vocab study and media engagement. Thinking in Spanish, studying Spanish, immersing myself in Spanish, that was my summer. An app called HelloTalk allowed me to meet native speakers from Perú, Columbia, Mexico, Spain, Argentina, even The Dominican Republic. I did Language Exchanges through the app with them and began learning much faster. They spoke to me in Spanish, and then I spoke with them in English. Beyond that, I met people all over the world. Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, China, even a kid my age from Myanmar who was willing to fight for his country in the ongoing war for democracy. Engaging with these people allowed me to learn more about the world. Language has never been a large part of my life. With only relatives who speak Spanish, growing up at an English Speaking school meant there was no need to learn it. Like most people, they take Spanish classes in High School. I hoped to learn it fluently with just classes at School, though soon it became obvious classes alone wouldn’t be enough. Continuing for the third year of Spanish, I incorporated another source to try and increase my learning pace. Duolingo lessons. This worked well, but it wasn’t good enough. During this time, I found myself pulled into other languages. Looking at similarities between romance languages led me to study Italian for a short time. Meeting people from the Philippines enlightened me on the native language of the people in the Philippines, Tagalog, now being studied as my third language. Similarly, meeting people from Thailand showed me one of the most interesting writing systems, with five different tones used that change the meaning of the words just based on the pronunciation. I want to cross borders to learn languages from a native perspective. Languages are -- and have been -- a tool to become a better version of myself. Languages are a barrier for the world that makes it difficult to spread information. After learning languages these barriers become bridges. Being born into an English-speaking country is very lucky. I often ask people from other countries why they want to learn English, and they always respond with the same answer: That by learning English they can find future success outside of their own country. Suddenly I realized, by creating bridges for these people I can give them a chance to succeed. My goal after high school is to enter a 4-year university to obtain a major in teaching English as a second language, and during my time in university, I'm going to study abroad and engage with cultures different than my own. I want to become a teacher of English to teach in foreign countries, perhaps even teaching other languages to others. Above all my hopes are to create bridges between cultures, to make learning languages an easier process, to become active in the field of active linguistics, and create better understandings of the world through teaching.

The future is a mystery, but my plans for it are not. In the future, I see myself in the field of Active Linguistics. Teaching English to students abroad and developing methods for learning languages. This is how I plan to do it: Following my completion of high school, I will be going to the University of Oregon to pursue a degree in Romance Languages. During my time at UO, I will study abroad to engage actively in other cultures, and cement my capabilities for each language I choose to study. The time I spend even before graduating high school in foreign 3 languages will support me with this. Post-graduation from university, I will begin to teach abroad. This is where my future becomes a mystery. Which country will I teach in? Frankly, I want to travel to many different countries and teach there while engaging in a culture not as a tourist, but as someone living there. Teaching for several months for will force me to adapt to the country that I am teaching in. That isn't to say I wont also be studying during my time there, but the culture shock will become a moment of adaptation to the customs of the country I am teaching in. Further more, I want to spend time developing methods for learning languages. Specifically reshaping how languages are taught in The United States through public education. If I can accomplish that within my life time I will be satisfied with the work I have done.

Strained hazel eyes surrounded by dark circles from burning the midnight oil in front of dimmed screens. Pulling myself from the bed like molasses, before the morning birds even consider waking up. Pellet stove filled, warm shower taken, store-bought instant coffee and water just hot enough to drink stirred in a 13 oz cup with french vanilla creamer. Sat upright on the bedroom sofa, coffee aside, the language instructor speaks from decade-old audios. I repeat aloud when instructed to. This is my morning. The coffee cup runs empty. I go upstairs to eat breakfast. High protein. Brush teeth, Listerine, backpack, and beanie equipped. Waiting for the bus to school.

Hobbies to me are more than simple things you do to pass the time, they define you as an individual. Hobbies are often activities you do for entertainment For me, I decide to spend my time studying languages. One may call this a hobby, but when I step away from my computer and my books it feels like more than a hobby. I continue to think about what I learned and speak to people in the target language. If I go from learning to play an instrument as a hobby, to playing in a band and making a living off of it, is it still a hobby? In my case, if I use flashcards and gamified programs to learn a language, and then I start to speak to people in the language, at what point does it go from a hobby to just talking to a friend? For this reason, hobbies mean more to me than something I simply do within a time frame. My favorite hobbies usually build skills, meaning I can improve and each time I do them it becomes more and more challenging to me. These include the before-mentioned Learning languages and instruments/music theory, playing chess, and exercise to name a few. Above all the most crucial "hobby" is spending time with family. If a hobby is something you spend your day doing and you set time aside for, spending time with family takes up most of my time. Helping my family members is an honor to me and doing it every day is my biggest pleasure. Though I don't improve on it each day, it is my favorite hobby.

Creativity is expressed in my life through the little things I am capable of doing. I can't paint or draw, my handwriting is chicken scratch, and whenever I'm asked to do any sort of art it's 2-dimensional drawings of stick figures and houses that look like the ones from doctor suesse books. Growing up I always wanted to do art. I used to copy the graphic pictures from my backpacks I took to school, or try to copy the characters from the comic books I read onto scratch paper. I liked to draw stick men doing cool ninja karate moves into the margin of my assignments. It was the only form of art I could do and I was embarrassed to try anything more. When I got a little older I tried digital art. I even got the $100 tablet to try and produce a magnum opus. Constantly being compared to the people around me, I decided to stop doing art and stopped expressing myself in colorful "creative" ways. Later on I started to notice ways to become creative, to stand out from the others, in a different way. One that would require me to be naturally good at something. I started expressing through my clothes. I would try on different styles, nothing like what you might see in the fashion industry, just whatever I could find in my wardrobe. One day I tuck the shirt in, the other I don't. Maybe I go with the shades on one day, and the next I use glasses instead of contacts. I also began to compose myself, not in an arrogant way to draw attention such as a piece of art, but one that made me feel comfortable and showed who I am without the need for natural unfound talent.

The concept of school was always a struggle for me. Often I felt like I couldn't do well in any core curriculum subject. My mother never finished high school, and my dad never made it through community college. I would spend my time at home playing with toys and going outside in my pajamas. I wasn't educated on the subject such as math, reading, or writing, because that wasn't how I was raised. When you do live a certain way as a kid at home, you just think that's what everyone else does. I didn't realize that other kids didn't play outside in their pajamas or get clothes from the lost and found at school. In primary school, we would come back from recess and sit down to be handed a sheet of paper containing 100 simple math problems in a 10x10 arrangement. The teacher would time us. We were given 2-minutes to get through as many problems as we could. Any student who was able to get through the paper within the 2-minutes was awarded a full-size chocolate bar. As much as a tried, I never got the chocolate bar. Moments like these made me feel pressured by my peers. I grew up thinking that I wouldn't be able to perform well academically. In grade 2 I had speech therapy, the rest of my peers didn't. In grade 5 I was put in a reading help group, and it never seemed to help me. I ended up falling behind during middle school as the classes got harder and didn't have the needed support at home. Staying after school with teachers only leads to more confusion and frustration. Over time I started to figure out what I was exceling at. As much as I despised standardized testing, it helped to figure out my strengths. English and literature was always a fun class for me, I'm able to express my ideas and discuss them with my peers. I found that I was excelling in English and Literature classes, much more so than the math courses. The field of study that I want to enter after high school is one that has recently become very important to me. Studying languages. Through learning Spanish I've become exposed to the world through different lenses. By the time I graduate within this field, I want to speak at least two romance languages (Spanish and Italian, maybe Portuguese). Those are required for the bachelors degree in Romance Languages. Beyond that I want to spend time learning Tagalog, the language of the Philippines. Achieving a conversational level of fluency in these languages is my minimum goal. As for the degree, It is required to have a higher level of fluency in the romance languages. Beyond that, I want to learn Indonesian and Thai. Through my time learning languages I got to know many people who are learning English. I spoke to individuals from Spanish speaking countries such as Mexico, Colombia, Perú, Venezuela, Ecuador, even south Asia countries such as Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, and Myanmar. As diverse as their cultures are, they all had something in common. They were all learning English. Talking to them about their choice to learn English would present the same goal. They want to succeed in the world and by learning English they are able to do so much easier. Suddenly I realized that my native language which I learned just from being born, was something that individuals are studying for years to learn. That is why I want to teach English, and learn languages so that I can better understand the world around me and turn the languages barriers that exist into bridges. I am willing to do whatever it takes to achieve my goal of teaching English. Spending years studying languages, travelling to foreign countries with only minimum knowledge of the native language, even countries deemed dangerous. My largest goal, and one that I want to achieve during my life time is to create better methods for language learning. English is a crucial language in the modern era. To be able to educate people on this language in foreign countries so that they may succeed is my dream. An individual in a third world country may be the next Einstein, and could grow up to cure cancer, but if he doesn't speak English and doesn't have the means to be able to show his intelligence, then the world will never know of him or her. On the other hand, those who already speak English but follow the stigma that they aren't able to learn languages due to their age or experience in high school learning Spanish, I want to change that. By learning many languages you begin to understand the world, and I have learned this myself, but I still have many years to go through and many countries to visit. Culture as rich as it is old isn't seen by those who don't learn languages or take the time to experience the culture, are in a sense land locked mentally.