A student’s four years of high school are a time of personal growth, the formation of lasting friendships, and deserving hard work- but for some, these years are a combination of high stress situations and low self worth.
Such is the premise of Massapequa High School’s “Awareness Week”—a five day series of seminars that seek to recognize the hidden strifes of many students around the school. Seminars included discussions about confidence, stress, and personal loss. Each was headed by students, effectively making the topics much more relatable due the fact that the personal experiences were coming from their peers. From March 10 to March 14, MHS students perhaps felt that they were not as left alone in their struggles as previously thought.
I was able to attend the Personal Loss seminar that took place on Thursday, March 13. Organized by social workers Mrs. Parks and Mrs. Waters, the assembly was led by a support group of fellow MHS students who had lost one of their parents. Ranging from losing a loved one in the 9/11 attacks to recovering from recent struggles in the past month, each student in the group had their own personal story to share.
Many tears were shed not only by the students leading the event, but by the audience as well. As Mrs. Parks said during the event, “We all have different levels of loss;” perhaps this served as a reminder for the audience to treasure our loved ones, for life is not only fragile, but unpredictable.
Other programs that were offered this week included a presentation on understanding homophobia, drug and alcohol abuse, relationship abuse and domestic violence, stress reduction, and yoga.
The support by the audience was overwhelming in thanking the presenters for sharing their biggest griefs. Overall, Awareness Week perhaps brought the student body closer together as often-covered-up teenage struggles were finally acknowledged.