Kids can make a significant difference in the world before they grow up. Yet, at Hollis-Brookline High School, it almost seems as though my fellow students and I are off in our own little universe, where the effects of real life can’t really reach us. We tend to forget that there’s a world outside of HBHS.

If there is a magical barrier dividing HB from the world, it’s in the minds of us students. We live in such an affluent, educated and connected community that we do have significant power to make a difference. Many students, including myself, don’t consciously recognize these precious privileges without some form of prompting.

Through my monthly column, Raise Your Voice, HB, my goal is to prompt my fellow students to take action in our community. At the end of every month, September through June, one or more articles pertaining to a scheduled topic (tentative topic schedule can be found below), will be published through the Cavalier Chronicle.

With every article, I want to help educate students about the selected issue, and connect that issue back to us and our lives, as well as list ways we as a student population can help the cause. By providing the information in a comprehensive, but relatable form, I hope students will take the initiative to make a difference. Each of my articles will argue that the specific concern plays an important role in the daily lives of a global citizen, and is therefore worth our attention.

I sincerely believe that activism has no age minimum. Considering all the potential I see at Hollis Brookline High School, if us students reached out to the community, I can imagine amazing things happening. Take the students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School for example; they saw a need, which they unfortunately had to experience first hand, and decided to make a change.

Hollis-Brookline students need to understand that starting today, we can also help make a change that impacts the greater community. There’s no need to wait until we grow up to start saving the world– teenagers have voices, and it’s time we used them here in Hollis and Brookline alike.

Topic List by Hannah