Stories of Connection

Voices Home

THE FIRST
Photo and prose by MH, age 17

Being the oldest child has made me strong, as I have seen what my parents have done for me. Being the oldest child has taught me from a young age to take on responsibilities, and that has shaped my character a lot. I have a proud feeling in me knowing that I can be there for my parents as their oldest child and help them out as they have for me. Being the oldest has taught me resilience; it has taught me patience in going through challenges and getting out of those challenges by myself. I am the oldest, the first to face challenges, but also the first to build resilience.

COMMUNICATION
Photo and prose by Maya, age 16

My communication makes me strong because it makes me adaptable to anything that shapes my world. It helps me be strong minded and determined to connect with people around me. Being able to communicate is a skill that I apply in my work, school, and home life. It is being able to be in an environment where I can talk freely but still have an open mind. Creating conversations with strangers or even friends and connecting with them as well as forming a bond over the conversation we have. I am a communicator. 

KINDNESS
Photo and prose by LC, age 17

My kindness makes me strong because being nice & kind to other people makes me feel like a better person. It’s really important to me how I make other people feel. I always try to put myself in other people's shoes and think "How would I feel If someone said that to me" or "how would I feel if I was treated in that way?" Making people feel comfortable & safe around me is really important and I think I feel like this because of how bad I've been treated in a few situations. I learned that making other people feel comfortable will make you feel like making their day. We should be good people too. It might be because life is a mirror and what you do will happen to you back.

SPEAKING UP
Photo and prose by PC, age 18

One of my identities is my communication because communicating makes me strong. Actually, I have never been good at communication. I think it was because I was scared of how the other person would feel or would react afterwards, or they would not just listen to anything I was saying and just skip over the reason why I am trying to communicate in the first place. Over time, I realized that my opinions are important too, whether or not they care because not saying anything is the worst, because it will eventually all come out when I have an argument. So, eventually I realized that I needed to speak up for myself, say what was on my mind, and take the time to hear other people out.