In my house, it is just my mom and I.
Adopted from Guatemala at six months old, I am racially different to my single mom and grew up knowing there are different kinds of families. The structure of my family and my eagerness to stay connected with my Guatemalan heritage helped shape my interest in world affairs.
In third grade, I believed everyone knew that lived experiences and families can be different, so I was surprised when I noticed a girl being picked on because she didn’t have a dad. She lived in a house where it was just her and her mom, just like me. To me, that made sense, but to other third graders, it seemed implausible.
I approached my teacher, and together we took the opportunity to share that families come in various shapes and sizes. This third grade experience would end up being the first of many times that I would find myself advocating for the perspectives and varied experiences of young people.
I have always been eager to participate in opportunities surrounding global learning and ways to uplift youth voices and strive for equitable youth-adult partnership.
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In 2023, I was accepted to the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh’s Youth Board. At the council, I hoped to gain a better understanding of global issues and cultural understanding, and amplify the voices of high schoolers and college students.
Through the board, I’ve given feedback and advice on the council’s programs and goals, and I’ve worked with my peers to develop training for adults on the importance of including youth, like us, in decision-making spaces.
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In March 2024, I reapplied to the council, for a fellowship that would allow me to keep developing our training, present to a greater audience and learn more about communications. I created new content for our social media and improved our presentation based on participant feedback.
During that summer, two other returning youth fellows and Youth Board members and I decided to submit a proposal to present at SXSW EDU, hosted in Austin, Texas. We were thrilled to hear that we were accepted, and began to practice and improve our presentation. When we arrived, we found we were among a small handful of high school students who were attending the conference, let alone presenting.
Presenting at SXSW was an amazing opportunity to reach a larger, more diverse audience to share why youth voice is important, and how we can uplift youth voice and increase their participation in decision-making spaces. It also allowed those who came to our session to hear right from youth about how they could best work with us and our peers.