The Milpitas Community Education Foundation (MCEF) hosted its 2nd annual Change Your World Conference on Nov. 15 at the Innovation Campus, featuring students from the Milpitas Middle College High School (MMCSH) and MHS. Three groups of high school students gave presentations on community issues they would like to see change in, specifically in animal cruelty, access to gender-affirming care, and homelessness.
The conference was based on the idea of providing high school students a platform to explore three community issues, MCEF founder Robert Jung said. The students research the topic, present it at the conference, and answer questions from the community, Jung added.
“This year we had more high school (students presenting), which was awesome,” Jung said. “We like to try to grow this so that high school kids understand that there’s an opportunity to have a voice, especially in the community. And clearly, the other thing we want to do is bring more of the community to learn about all the things that you care about.”
Mahika Mahesh, a sophomore at MHS, gave a presentation on homelessness and argued that shelters should be expanded. Researching for the conference was really eye opening when she was trying to find solutions for homelessness, she added.
“Homelessness is very multifaceted,” Mahesh said. “There’s a lot of different components to it. There’s no one right solution, because we talked about shelters and affordable housing. So it’s not just one or the other, it’s both.”
Mahesh has always been interested in the issue of homelessness and was looking for ways she could combat the issue, she said. She was born in India and lived there until she moved to the United States at seven years old, she said.
“I see the similarities all the time,” Mahesh said. “Downtown and the places I go and over there, just in general, I see a lot of people on the streets, and I guess that just touched me. I’ve always had a soft spot for them. I just want to see how I can make an impact, at least here.”
Another issue at the conference were the barriers to accessing gender-affirming care, presented by MMCHS junior Reese Durante. Durante spoke about how the criteria and requirements for receiving gender-affirming care were restrictive and harmful to transgender youth.
“I think it’s important to recognize that trans people’s well-being and safety really depend on health care,” Durante said. “That’s why I say that gender affirming care is health care because it prevents all the harmful things that the lack of it could lead to. I just want people to learn that and learn barriers that transgender people face in their personal lives. And I just hope that that also helps them to try to better support queer people in general.”
Although Durante is not transgender, she is queer, and believes that the LGBTQ+ community often overlooks the actions that have been made by transgender individuals to advocate for all queer lives, she said.
“I think it’s important for me to continue their voice, especially this year, when trans people are constantly being attacked, and I feel like our community, the LGBTQ+ community, isn’t doing enough to protect that very small portion of our community, despite them making all the efforts for all of us to have rights,” Durante said.
Mahesh hopes to do more of these types of conferences throughout the year, she said.
“Hold it at the library or city hall,” Mahesh said. “Make it like a public thing for our entire community. So parents, people who work at MHS, just in general. That’s one of the things I think would help if we educate our community about this. That’s one thing I took away from the conference, and I hope to further my research on homelessness so then I can find better solutions.”
Jung invited students from the Middle College because they had a program that required them to do a community project, and this year, MHS and Calaveras Hills High School were invited, although Calaveras did not attend, Jung said.
“I would like to see kids learn about this opportunity and be really excited about it because of the opportunity to share your passion,” Jung said. “I think it’s a great way, as you saw, to have those conversations. And I hope to grow it every single year, so that it becomes more well-known.”
