This week, we're sharing the perspective of Tavian Southall, a youth participant in Mikva Challenge DC who has spent the summer interning at the DC Council. We thank Tavian and Mikva Challenge DC for their contribution to this blog!
I am a college student! I just graduated from
high school, and now I am on my way to change the world. At the beginning of my
senior year of high school, I told myself that I wanted to complete as many
challenges in an efficient and timely manner. I wanted to be engaged in and out
of school. I participated in my school’s Student Government Association as the
12th Grade Representative. I advocated to the Executive Director of the school to
partner with an organization named Reach Inc. I was a tutor for Reach Inc. for
two years as an underclassmen at my old high school, so as I came to my new
school for eleventh (and twelfth) grade, I made sure Reach Inc. was a program
that was coming with me. Consequently, when I began twelfth grade, Reach Inc.
was at my new school! From there, I led the ninth and tenth graders in the
program with tutoring second and third graders in reading and writing. I soon
joined the State Board of Education’s Student Advisory Committee -- advocating
and discussing issues we faced at our respective schools. I also continued to
work with the SBOE Representatives to ensure that the upcoming committee
members are more productive and action-based. And of course, I joined Mikva
Challenge DC, an organization focused on youth civic engagement in a variety of
ways. Now, I want to fuse youth engagement and education into one organization
and call it my own.
In the District of Columbia, there are many opportunities
for youth to become civically engaged in their communities. I participated in a
few of them this past year, and would encourage all youth in DC to learn more
about the opportunities available to them!
