Student-2-Student by Kyle

Student-2-Student by Kyle - December 2017 Scholarship Essay

On my first day of high school, fourth-period ended with the sound of the lunch bell. Dwarfed by the tall buildings and triple stacked lockers, I sat down and gobbled up my lunch alone. I came from a small private school with just 25 students in my eighth grade graduating class, so when I came to San Ramon Valley High School, I felt lost. Though I made strong friendships by the end of the first semester, I felt like an outlier for the first few months.

Last year, I found myself reflecting on this difficult experience. I began to wonder about the stories behind all the students whom I see eating alone. Were they similar to mine? My quest took me to the Student Support committee of Student Leadership. I applied to Leadership because it encourages students to make changes that foster a supportive community. Motivated by own my experiences, I set my goals high: I wanted every student to have a place to sit at lunch.

So, in the first week of my senior year, I went to the registrar and obtained a manifest of students who were new to the district. I organized a New Student Luncheon to help these students make connections and have a place to sit at lunch. I initiated ice-breaking games so that these students would feel welcomed. During the third New Student Luncheon, several students thanked me for my efforts. They said that they thought that their grades were going up and that school was now fun since they had friends to sit with.

But I realized that my responsibility went beyond new students. A couple of weeks later, I walked around the campus at lunch searching for all the students sitting alone. I invited every student sitting alone to a Student-2-Student meeting, a program that I had just conceived. My goal for Student-2-Student was not only for every student to have a place to sit at lunch, but also to help students feel more connected to campus.

Student-2-Student has been a tremendous success. Not only do we hold meetings where students connect, but we also created a WhatsApp group message, so that, whenever a student doesn’t have a place to sit, he or she can message us to group up. Group leaders introduce students who have been sitting alone in different friend circles based on shared interests. We even organize “hangouts” outside of school.

Student-2-Student was written up in a local newspaper, but I am most proud simply to have positively shaped students’ high school experiences. I have witnessed the real impact that my actions can have. Through this experience, I realized that I am a motivated problem solver, a leader, and more of an extrovert than I had thought.

More recently, I have applied this newly-discovered mentality beyond Student-2-Student. When I see a problem, I aim to solve it. For instance, my campus has a major diversity and hate speech problem. In response, I formed the United Interfaith Awareness Club to recognize the different cultures, languages, holidays, and ethnicities on my campus. Our most recent project was directed at the fire victims in the North Bay. I held a fundraiser collecting financial contributions, new and lightly used clothes, Halloween costumes, and toiletries.

My love for Student-2-Student and the United Interfaith Awareness Club epitomizes these values. I hope to continue this work by becoming a Diversity Intern and a New Student. In addition, I hope to conceive a new Student-2-Student organization that incorporates elements of the United Interfaith Awareness Club, so that more students can feel connected and safe on campus. We will celebrate differences. We will solve problems creatively and effectively. No matter what, I cannot wait for what the future has in store for me. But it's persistence; that's all it takes.