Youth Create! 2023

Discover youth perspectives

Tough Times We Experience
Ways We Care for Ourselves
People, Places, & Communities We Cherish and Value
Our Healthy Future

The Office of Population Affairs (OPA) opened the Youth Create! call to young people ages 13 to 21 who currently participate or have participated in OPA’s Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP) and Title X programs as part of its youth engagement efforts. It has become an annual invitation for young people served by OPA’s programs to share their thoughts and experiences about health and being an adolescent today. The Youth Create! 2023 call was the first year where youth suggested the prompts they would like to answer. Youth input led to the following prompts for 2023 participants:

How do you care for yourself during tough times? And how can adults support you?
Spotlight something about or in your community that is important to you.
What is something that you have come to cherish or value more in the last few years?
What does a healthy future mean to you and others your age?

Submissions in the gallery below reflect the diversity of young people in the United States and U.S. Territories and Freely Associated States and encompass a variety of media, including poetry, fine and digital art, videos, and original songs. All submissions are largely in their original form to retain the youth’s authentic voice. A sampling of the submissions can also be viewed in the compilation video.

Tough Times We Experience

The Parts You Forget

Marina, Fund for Public Health in NY: Staten Island Youth Leadership Team (NY)

A couple of years ago, I was in seventh grade, preparing for highschool and figuring out what I wanted to do in life. A few moments later I lost my uncle who I viewed as my father while listening to my mother's first verbal diagnosis that she had severe stage of ovarian cancer. After that moment, I realized how much I had taken for granted. The simple things in life can easily be overlooked when we get caught up in routines of mundane activities. As time went on, I noticed more people entering my mother's life. Some carried get well gifts, while others had fear in their eyes but much love in their hearts. As I watched my mother, I noticed some changes, a hint of regret and disappointment. Throughout my mothers life she was always taught to work hard and to be there for others. But I think she wasn’t ever properly taught how to be there for herself. For that time it felt like a blur, arguments that would go on for months were resolved when they got the news. My family once very closed off became open and accepting of what might have to come. Fast forward a couple more years. I was a freshman in highschool. The anniversary of my mothers diagnosis and of her being cancer free was coming. We had plans to celebrate, until it was announced that we were in a pandemic. Not even one year and my simple way of life was hit again. I was still trying to cope with almost losing my mother the same way my father did when he was my age, but now I was losing people left in right. My mind became dark like a thunderstorm that refused to stop. I had a strong feeling of unfulfillment and a lack of motivation. Until my father and I both had covid at the same time. I had recovered but he remained sick for months on end. I didn't think he was going to make it. My mother noticed how much of a toll it was taking on my sister and i and decided to take us on a drive.

At first I was apprehensive of going out and being used to staying inside for so long. But I went and drove around Staten Island. While we drove around I had forgotten how this island that I had lived on for 13 years looked like. I noticed how some areas reminded me of the towns in the Appalachian towns that my mothers family grew up in. How when it would rain it would make the forest look slightly greener due to the amounts of moss that grew on the trees of Staten island. She drove us near the areas of where Sandy hit. Areas that I remember once full of homes and mom and pop shops were now just plain empty lots. She took us everywhere and if we wanted to see what street went where she drove us down it. That day I cried hard. I never expected how much I missed this island until I was forced not to see it.

Looking back to this time all I could remember about myself was how quick I wanted to grow up and to get out of this island. Yet now in twelfth grade and getting ready for college I grew to appreciate how much my time here on this earth on this island has changed me. I learned to take my time to appreciate what's around me because you may never know if it will be there in the future. My mother had told me once “It had taken cancer and covid to make me realize how much I wasn’t living the life i wanted but the life others wanted for me”. It made me realize that life wasn’t made to be simple. It was made to be a challenge. I guess what I'm trying to say is don’t take the safety route of life. There is so much to learn and do and living in a city like New York you have a world full of opportunities outside your doorstep the only thing holding you back is yourself. So I dare you to be a little uncomfortable with yourself. Try a new hobby, New food, or a different route to go home on. Life isn’t made to be a constant routine, it's made to be lived and enjoyed and I feel that's what makes it so hard for people because it can be scary to do something you haven’t done before. All I can say is start out small and go from there but don’t live a life where in the long run will leave you looking back in regret and wishing you didn’t take life and the simple and crazy things with it for granted and wishing you valued it more.

Marina C 4/16/23

Depression, Anxiety, Over-thinking & Body Image

Dietary Behaviors & Access to Healthy Foods

Social, Emotional, Physical Health from COVID-19

Hardships

Tahjai, Fund for Public Health in NY: NYC Teens Connection Team (NY)

A lesson from a setback was during COVID when I was around the ages of 15-16. At the time her grandmother at the end of June 2020 found out she had cancer, stage 4 or stage 3 breast cancer. Through the summer, I was alone and upset because I didn’t want to lose her like how I lost my grandmother 2 years before. I was going through this depression stage that I couldn’t seem to escape. It was hard on my family but me the most and no one realized. I was noticing things that a 15 year old wasn’t supposed to see, I saw my grandma have different kinds of strokes. The worst one I saw was when we were home. I never saw her shake that much in my life, it was scary and I had to call 911 to make sure she got the treatment she needed. During my first year of 10th grade, it was online at the time. My grandmother was in the hospital and my mother was starting to work. I was alone with my siblings who were 4 and 10 at the time. I had to watch them which I didn’t know how to do because I never really had to watch them because people were watching them at the time. We all were online learning, it was hard because I never really knew how to help them or feed them at the time. I had to learn to clean behind them, make sure they ate, learn to cook, learn to wash clothes, make sure they went to school online on time and actually did their work, and also dealing with my uncle who was addicted to crack. After a month of watching them, my grandmother came home from the hospital on my birth month, February 2021. At the time, my family was making sure I was watching my siblings and adding on my cousin who was 2 at the time to my work load. I never got my work because I was caring for them. For my birthday, I was alone. No one was really there because they were either working or were busy with whatever they were doing. During this time, my uncle was out of control with his drug problem, he stopped taking drugs one day and the next time he was butt naked in the house coming off his high. My mom and I had to call the cops because we didn’t want my siblings watching their uncle naked and seeing him acting out. Also, at this time, my mom was dealing with a dude that was putting hands on her and I always had to be in the middle of it because I was the oldest and I had to protect her from anyone and anything. I was in the middle of it one day, and got pepper sprayed by her because she was trying to get to him instead. Then in 2022, I failed all of my classes for being there for my family and them not being there for me. At the same time, my uncle came back down off his high and did what he did before. But instead of my mom being there, it was only me, my grandmother and my siblings there all alone with him. He was throwing the cases of water and saying that there was a tsunami coming and there was a desert and we have to have the water not to die. I had to call 911 by myself and my mother finally kicked him out and he was never seen again. This time, I had a big weight off my shoulders and felt able to breathe however it didn't stop. This time, my mom got a boyfriend and he had 3 kids at the time. Whenever they went out I had to watch his 2 kids and my siblings. And now my cousin has two newer brothers and a new sister. Everytime they come to our house, I have to watch them since “I’m the babysitter of the family”. Watching all of these kids was draining, and I started to turn to smoking. It helped me relax and stop being so worried about always watching kids. I felt better when I was smoking knowing it was bad for me, I still did it. Now, I'm at the age of 18 in 11th grade struggling with the same problem I had before and can’t seem to shake off. I don’t have no escape in this world. I have no peace. I can’t really trust anyone or feel how I want to feel without feeling like I have to please people and their needs. I know it sounds bad but my lesson of this is to have time to myself and to be able to be free. But sooner or later, I will feel what I've been craving for, for 4 years now. But growing up, I had people to thank for understanding me and actually help me.

Ways We Care for Ourselves

Motivation looks different for everyone min comes staight from the source. Image of coffee

Years of Piano

Kalyan, Temple University: Proud Teens of Philly (PA)

This is my first year in high school and I never expected to feel so different. The amount of work I have has increased and I feel stressed most of the time. I have never felt like this before this year and I did not know what I could do to calm myself down. One thing that I never really enjoyed calms me down. That thing is playing piano.

I have been playing piano for more than 10 years which is 66% of my life. For most of that time piano was something that I hated. My parents made me practice piano for 30 dull exhausting minutes each and every day. I would sit down at that cold leather bench and set a timer. As soon as it would go off I would rush to get away from that horrible instrument. Piano was always a chore. Just a thing my parents made me do for no reason that needed to happen every day.

I don’t know what changed but for some time now piano has been relaxing. When I just want to relax and not stress about school, sports or just life in general the slippery keys and creaking pedals are there for me. A way to get lost in music that I can create. The notes just flow and how I feel is reflected in the sound strings vibrating, echoing throughout the house. I regret the time I practiced without realizing the beauty in the music I played. I am lucky that I never stopped and I am finally good enough to enjoy playing the instrument I have spent so much time on.

I think that this newfound joy in piano has been a product of becoming more mature. I always felt like piano practice was a waste of time but now I see that it wasn’t. My hard work over all those years brings me a sense of gratitude and happiness when I sit down at that bench everyday. I look forward to being able to touch the keys and listen as I can relax and feel free.

Life often seems repetitive but music is something that makes me so happy and adds variation to a sometimes kafkaesque reality.

People, Places, & Communities We Cherish and Value

Something in the community important to me and what does a healthy future look like to me?

Health Club Members, MIHS Health Club Youth Leadership Council

Embracing the Border Town Culture

Valeria, Campesinos Sin Fronteras: Thrive! (AZ)

These past few years, I’ve had many different experiences. The pandemic was the one
that hit hardest. I was still in 8th grade when the pandemic began, so it was different having to
miss a real graduation to head to high school and start high school in itself. During this time, I
had just started my teenage years, which is when I began to learn new things about myself and
started to change. I got to learn to love many new things in my life and change my perspective on
life. However, one thing that I have learned to value more is music!

Growing up, music has always been a large part of my life. My family from my mom’s
side is full of talented musicians. That heavily influenced my love of music; I was constantly
surrounded by it, along with positive energy. Even I became a musician and performed in a
mariachi during middle school. Every day I would go and practice the violin and learn new
songs. My music teacher was someone with a lot of passion for music, and he inspired me the
most to be my best in mariachi. He would non-stop make us practice and perform, even when
some students found it draining and annoying, I quite enjoyed having the pressure and challenge.
But once Covid-19 appeared, the opportunity to perform at Disneyland and at a Mariachi Tuscon
Conference was canceled for safety reasons. This was super devastating to hear because we had
so many plans and performances. So for the next few years, I wasn’t able to continue playing the
violin because I had no one to perform with, not even an instrument! So my passion for music
slowly faded into just casually enjoying it.

Once I began high school, things started to change, and for me, it wasn’t all very positive.
Quarantine began to have a negative impact on my mental health. Being locked in and away
from others made me feel alone and hopeless. This is when music came back into my life and
became a coping mechanism. I began listening to all different types of music genres, from
country to electric pop, from classical to modern, and even from different languages. Listening to
music became my favorite hobby, and it truly made me feel less alone. Music helped me connect
with others as well, including my family. A certain artist whose music was there for me the most
was Taylor Swift. I grew up listening to her music and formed a bond with her songwriting. It
has been around 15-16 years of enjoying her music, so it brings many memories especially now.
For these past 2 years, she has released many new songs and it made me aware of so many new
things.

Now, I began to play the violin once again and started to be a part of the community. My
connection with music has given me so much inspiration to help others and my community to
recover from the pandemic these past few years. A goal of mine is to help arrange events in my
community that focus on artistry and embracing the border town culture. Music helps us learn
who we are and where we come from, as well as who we want to be. So these past two years, the
thing I cherish most is the beauty of music.

Youth Create! 2023

Discover youth perspectives

Tough Times We Experience

Ways We Care for Ourselves

People, Places, & Communities We Cherish and Value

Our Healthy Future