Igniting my inner spark to be on the frontlines of the change I desperately want to see started with embracing my passion for equity and inclusion efforts. I never realized the fuel my mind would get from historical and ethical discussions in my humanities classes, leading to conversations outside the classroom with other eager, dedicated students passionate about spreading awareness for human rights and social justice. Being a Social Justice Intern group gave me the ability to create projects and presentations through what I learned from guest speakers that expanded my knowledge about the tools to actively participate as an informed, engaged member of my community to actively address issues that matter not only to me but to those around me. When the opportunity arose for me to volunteer to teach in front of my peers about health education, I didn't have the confidence to take on the role of Peer Health Facilitator. When I decided to take the risk for my first couple of lessons, my hands shook, and my voice quivered, but gradually, my nerves transitioned to pride. Taking on this leadership animated my passions and the change that I seek to contribute to my community and, beyond that, emphasized the importance of connecting my community with the resources they need to enrich their power. Facilitating an open space for students from all grade ranges to ask questions about taboo topics freely allowed me to work towards destigmatizing mental health, sex education, and various other topics. I plan not to stop there; that was a stepping stone for contributing to the lasting impacts I strive to make on my community. Using my education to create meaningful change in my community started with me taking the extra mile to stay up later to study for a test or asking one of my teachers for some of their time after school to review class content, which has come second nature to me. It's making the conscious, intentional effort to have extensive ambitions and dreams and put in the time and energy to make them a reality to solidify tangible, effective change for social issues. That example was set by seeing how uncles, aunts, my grandmother, my mother, and others in my family breathe life into their greatest dreams for themselves and generations. It inspires me to continue on this legacy by continuing to pour into my education. As a recent high school graduate, walking across that stage with honors and distinctions, the choices that I have made throughout my high school career to impact my community, especially being on my school's Teacher Interviewing Committee, which allowed me to conduct interviews with prospective teachers to ensure the candidates aligned with our school's values animated to me the significance of taking on roles of leadership and using them to amplify the voices of my community.

It would start with feeling unexplainably restless, hardly eating because my stomach would hurt, and my hard racing, but I could not explain why. I would feel like I am not safe, but in a body I've grown to know. I knew something wasn't quite right, but I couldn't put my finger on it. I was allergic to life, but I couldn't pinpoint my trigger. Sure, I was stressed in school, but wasn't everybody? And yeah, I worried about how others perceived me, who liked me and who didn't, and if, all at once, rumors would spread about me, but isn't that normal for a high schooler to feel? It wasn't until I went to my next physical towards the end of my eighth-grade year and explained to my doctor my symptoms, how out-of-body, out-of-mind. She diagnosed me with anxiety, and as she identified my symptoms out loud, medically confirming them, I finally felt like someone understood how I was feeling—overbearingly on edge. My diagnosis made me realize that anxiety breathes alive and well in every facet of my life. Admittedly, I first brushed it off for a while, assuming I could still live without issue. I figured that if I ignored it, it'll go away eventually. That proved wrong when I started using my academics to escape how growingly anxious I became as I got older, with more stress coming along. If I was on the verge of a panic attack, it was time to get ahead of an assignment to get off whatever was stressing me out. And, for a while, it seemed to work well. After all, what was the harm if all I was trying to do was stay on top of academics, which means so much to me? That cycle left me grappling with my sense of reality. Life is becoming unenjoyable; how can I be present if I'm constantly worrying? Nothing worked after what seemed like virtually everything and anything I could think of—taking on all the willpower I had to push through, deep breathing after a long day, or even taking on new arts and crafts to distract myself. I knew I needed to take a new approach: not getting rid of anxiety but learning how to live with it. After embracing my anxiety, as opposed to neglecting it, navigating it through therapy, family, and friends led me to discover that anxiety is my superpower; it gives me the agency not to ignore how I am feeling. For so long, I thought there would never be a light at the end of what seemed to be this very dark, endless tunnel. Taking a chance to seek support allowed me to thrive, giving me the courage to face whatever made me uneasy and on edge. Whenever I think something seems out of reach or too daunting, I am reminded of my support systems rooting for me, no matter how close or far, saying yes, you can. Embracing my superpower enlivened my confidence from within, which will continue to take me to new heights in this next chapter of my life.

Working twice as hard to earn a seat at the table is significant in my household; it ignites resilience and determination. Taking my intersectional identities into consideration as a Black queer woman, going the extra mile to stay up late to study for a test, or asking one of my teachers for some of their time after school to review class content has come second nature to me. It's making the conscious, intentional effort to have extensive ambitions and dreams and put in the time and energy to make them a reality. My Blackness, womanhood, and queerness give me the privilege of knowing this—seeing how uncles, aunts, my grandmother, my mother, and others in my family breathe life into their greatest dreams, not only for themselves but for generations inspires me to continue on this legacy by continuing to pour into my education. With education instilled as a fundamental value of success in my family, building bridges amidst systematic barriers and being an active, engaged student has provided me with avenues of growth and introspection. My classes have served as avenues for furthering my knowledge about areas of study that affect my community and others. The nuance that my identities grant me reminds me of my role in fueling deep desires to make one's wildest aspirations come to fruition not only for my minority group but for others. My intersectional identities give me the drive to make my voice heard and the voices of other underrepresented groups known as well. Being a part of a marginalized community is prideful; it is a badge of uniqueness and individuality; for anyone facing adversity that comes with being different, I would encourage them to be unapologetically yourself. Everyone deserves to feel heard, represented, and seen, and by loudly and proudly taking up space and being your most authentic self it only paves the way for others to do the same. Being a Social Justice at a non-profit organization, City Mission Boston, has allowed me to see this firsthand. Having the opportunity to collaborate with students from different areas of Boston who have the same drive and passion for advocating for social justice trivial experience about how to use my vigor for equity and diversity to create infographics, presentations, and projects that I would then pitch to guest speakers working in public health, diversity, and equity fields. This is only the beginning of making the voices of underrepresented communities at the frontlines.