During the 2022 Speak Up for Change assembly on Feb. 4, students will share their experiences overcoming adversities related to the theme “Stepping Forward,” which emphasizes the importance of openly discussing mental health in order to break its stigma. The event is slated to take place outdoors during tutorial.

Each year, the Speak Up For Change commissioners submit three themes to the school’s administrators and ASB, who then choose one theme for the event. 

“’Stepping Forward,’ the theme that was chosen, is also our favorite, so we’re really excited,” senior outreach commissioner Catherine Kan said. “Last year’s event was virtual, so there wasn’t much participation. Our speakers are really great, so I’m also pumped that we’re going to have a crowd this year.”

Kan said this year’s Speak Up For Change was more difficult to plan compared to previous years because the commission is far more limited, with commissioners split between outreach (the commission responsible for hosting Speak Up For Change) and other leadership branches. She and Yang had to enlist additional officers from leadership groups to work with them.

According to another commissioner, senior Alex Yang, they selected the theme of mental health because the youth mental health crisis has been exacerbated by the pandemic. Last year, Speak Up For Change was held live over YouTube, a platform that Yang said “lost the intimacy” of being able to actively engage with and relate to students’ experiences.

“We hope that the event will make students feel more connected and comfortable in the school environment,” Yang said. “For me, seeing the upperclassmen talk about their struggles throughout high school boosted my confidence. I saw that these stellar kids who seemed to achieve so much without any problems also struggled as well, and that sort of realization brings our school community together.”

Since the event is in person this year, commissioners also encouraged clubs to participate to increase inclusivity of different parts of the school working together. Clubs like Sources of Strength, Singing for Smiles, Crafting Club, Yoga for All Club, LEO Club and Chinese Club will be providing activities to boost wellness throughout the week, which starts on Jan. 31.

Chinese Club, for example, is hosting performances to simultaneously celebrate the 2022 Lunar New Year on Feb. 1. Sources of Strength will be making wellness posters and putting them up around the school. 

While the commissioners posted a speaker sign-up QR code on @semicolonsaratoga’s Instagram page, Yang said the commision team has tried to avoid “commercializing the event” in an inconsiderate way, as topics like mental health are sensitive. Instead, each commissioner reached out to specific students they felt would be comfortable speaking and invited them as speakers for the event.

Senior Raya Khanna and juniors Ishir Lakhani, Allison Tan, Jasmine Ispasiou and Elsa Blom are among the featured speakers.

“You’re usually not the only one who’s going through something,” Khanna said. “A lot of people relate to you, even if you don’t recognize it.”

Khanna said she had been hard on herself for not putting much effort into changing the community around her for a long time, so she decided to speak up at the event to share what she has gone through.

Her speech will revolve around how her mental health experience has affected her over the course of high school and how she has worked to overcome it.

Junior Ishir Lakhani’s speech will focus on how he overcame the nadir of his mental health through the support of friends and community.

Junior Allison Tan will be speaking about her mental health journey, with a focus on bringing awareness to topics like depression and suicide prevention.

Tan, Ispasiou and Blom — all officers for Semicolon Saratoga, a platform Tan created for students to share mental health experiences in 2021 — will cover the pervasive taboo of mental health in the community and let the school know that the organization is a resource.

For Kan, the event has impacted her on a personal level in past years. Specifically, she recalls resonating with Class of 2020 Ritika Kuppam’s speech during the 2020 Speak Up for Change week themed “Know No,” in which Kuppam spoke about “finding confidence in oneself and promoting a world of diverse interests and acceptance.” 

Kan said she’s excited for the event and hopes the speakers’ stories will be just as impactful for others as it has been for her.

“Since we get such a big audience, everyone gets to hear messages that we, [as commissioners], think are important for them to hear from people that have really great stories,” Kan said. “I think it has a good effect on other people.”