Peer Leader at Edward R. Murrow High School
Transcribed from an audio interview. Responses have been edited for clarity.
I wish there was a way to get my sister’s school to have this! There are so many good opportunities. What I realize I really like about [the Summer Peer Leadership Institute] is how many different people you meet. I’ve gotten so much contact information from so many cool people.
After learning about signs of dating abuse [as a Peer Leader], I see a lot of these things are popularized in modern culture — like, there’s a thing now that’s seen as cute, it’s when you play fight with the person that you like, you’re always hitting each other. It’s back to the mentality of when you’re a kid and a guy throws dirt at you: ‘It’s because he likes you.’ We’re growing up with that and now we’re doing it in real life.
I really want Day One to just be everywhere. I want a Day One everywhere in every school. I just feel like this information we’re learning and these opportunities we’re getting are so important and I appreciate… I’m so emotional. I just appreciate it so much, you know? I don’t want to be the only person who gets this opportunity. I’d like there to be more schools, especially predominantly Black, Hispanic, Brown schools. They should get the same opportunities that schools like Murrow do, because I feel like this information is so necessary.