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Student Voice

Essays from students about education, mental health and more issues affecting young people today

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Why I Had To Leave The Community I Loved To Find the School That Served My Needs

Devin Walton

Gen Z is Looking for Balance, Mentorship, and Meaning in Work

Cheryn Hong

Life, Learning & Loss During the Pandemic — in Students’ Own Words

Andrew Brownstein

Mask Confusion and a Lesson on Privilege in Schools

Ianne Salvosa

Pandemic Notebook: A 5th Grader’s Education in Chickens and Ducks

Zora Borcila-Miller

Pandemic Notebook: Young Love in the Time of COVID-19

Ila Kumar

Student's View: Supreme Court Must Protect Student Whistleblowers

Yesenia Gaspar

A Student’s View: Teachers Form Unions to Negotiate How Their Schools Operate. Why Shouldn’t Students Do the Same?

Gregory Wickham

Analysis: Americans Didn’t Vote for Education in 2020. Students Are Determined to Make Sure They Do Next Time

Mohan Sivaloganathan

Pandemic Notebook: For Students from Low-Income, Immigrant Families, Getting into College Can Feel like Winning the Golden Ticket. The Pandemic Has Only Raised the Stakes

Bridgette Adu-Wadier

Student Voice: ‘Canvas’ Bitmojis, Fascinating Teacher Digressions and Other Reasons to Be Hopeful as Virtual School Starts Anew

Sadie Bograd

Pandemic Notebook: 13 Students Across America Write About COVID-19, Their Disrupted School Year and the Disorienting New Normal

Andrew Brownstein

My Mom Is 55, Black, and Just Returned to Work in a Doctor’s Office in New York City. That’s Why I’m Scared

Rainier Harris

Student Voice: Decades After My Great-Grandmother Was Tear-Gassed, Taking Fresh Stock of the Land of the ‘Free’

Jimmy Rodgers

On His Way to Top HBCU, Former Problem Student and ‘Distinguished Gentleman’ Lost Major Milestone Celebration to Coronavirus

Patrick O’Donnell

Student Voice: Student, Sibling, Mentor, Mess. Pandemic Has Me Juggling Roles and Craving Sleep

Bridgette Adu-Wadier

Student Voice: Two Weeks, Five Siblings and One Working Laptop. How I Navigated the Nation’s Largest School System in Search of an iPad and What It Taught Me About America’s Digital Divide

Brandon Yam

Teaching Nemo: How I Learned to Juggle Community College While Instructing My 9-Year-Old Nephew From Home

Safiya Al-Samarrai

Worst. Summer Break. Ever. How One D.C. Third-Grader Is Bracing for the Pain of Quarantine Without the Pleasure of School

Owain Williams

Student Voice: The Joys of Reading in Quarantine. At a Time Dominated by Technology, I’m Getting Lost in Books

Talia Natterson

Student Voice: Facing the ‘Crushing Impact of Isolation,’ Teens Struggling With Mental Health Problems During Pandemic Lean on Each Other

Emily Bach

A Student’s View: Thinking Outside the Device — With a Little Ingenuity, Libraries Could Keep Kids Loving Reading While Schools Are Closed

Bruce Arao

Student Voice: The Night the Lights Went Out on My Baseball Career — and My Normal High School Life

Steven Rissotto

Student Voice: Connecting in ‘Ways That Are Terrifying and Beautiful,’ I’m Finding Meaning During the Pandemic Through Friendly Texts, Viral Memes and Joe Exotic

Asher Lehrer-Small

Student Voice: Caged In and Zoomed Out, I’m Dreaming of Getting Dirt Under My Fingernails and Learning Again in a Non-Virtual World

Sunaya DasGupta Mueller

Student Voice: We May Joke About ‘the Rona’ and Virtual Graduation, but Deep Down, We’re Scared. Here’s How I Learned to Manage Anxiety in the Time of COVID-19

Sky Carroll

Student Voice: Barking Dogs, Breathing Exercises and Eckhart Tolle — Diary of My First Day of ‘Social-Distance’ Learning at Sunny Hills High

Hope Li

Student Voice: Part Staycation, Part Home Detention, My Life During Pandemic Is a Study in Contrasts

Sadie Bograd

A Student’s View: Young People Are the Biggest Stakeholders in Any School. They Deserve a Seat at the Decision-Making Table

Joshua Dantzler

A Student’s View: To Graduate From College, I Had to Overcome Many Financial Obstacles. Government Can Help Students Like Me

DeJoiry McKenzie-Simmons

A Student’s View on Asking ‘Where Are You From?’: I’m a College-Bound Nuyorican High School Grad With a Unique Identity. Here’s What It Means to Be Where I’m From

Elvis Santiago

A Student’s Plea: California Lawmakers Need to Listen to Kids Like Me. Traditional Schools Give Up on Us. Charter Schools Don’t

Roberto Delgado

Student’s Perspective: Reflections From an Online High School Valedictorian — We Are the Adults Now, and We Have to Make Our Own Futures

William Lampman

Student’s Perspective: How High School Speech and Debate Empowered One Immigrant to Embrace Her Voice & Regain Her Identity

Oluseyi Olaose

Student’s Perspective: Getting Around New Orleans Is Dangerous for Me & My Fellow Students With Disabilities. We Need Public Officials to Make Our Transportation System Safe

Jewel Dauphin

Commentary: I’m an Ignored Student at an Ignored School in Bridgeport, Connecticut — but I’m Reclaiming My Voice

Julia Hajducky

Student Voice: My Mother Is Undocumented. My Father Was Deported. I Am the Resistance

Esther Reyes