“Look up, road ahead.’ It’s just a message saying you should always keep your head up, because you don’t know what’s in front of you.”

“[If I had a tattoo] My tattoo would say ‘I love you’ in Swahili. I think the language of Swahili is very pretty, it’s also my native language.”

“In five years from now, I’ll be in high school to college. So I’d like to get into a good college, I’d like to get scholarships, and I would like to be famous. Not just because I want to be a singer, not just to be a singer. I’d like to help poor people get houses, get homes, get phones, get anything they ever needed. I’d just like to help them.”

“Yes. I feel like people should tell the truth, and when you’re giving advice, you should tell the truth at all times. And so I feel like you should give your best advice, and if not, at least tell the truth, and I would tell the truth, you know what I’m saying? If it hurt them, I’d still do it.”

“I like how I’m family-oriented. I have a lot of family around me, supporting me. What I least like about my life, I dislike my introverted ways. I hold myself back a lot.” 

“One of my biggest regrets was lying to my boyfriend about my age when we first met. Like he isn’t really that much older than me -  just three years, but I just wanted to seem older. He brings it up sometimes and I just feel bad. We’ve been dating for over a year, with a pretty strong relationship and because of that, it makes me feel like I shouldn’t have lied to him.”...

“My biggest regret is not seeking out the help I needed when I needed it. When I was in a dark place, I cut people off and was a terrible person and I could’ve done better. I took my dark place out on everyone else and I regret doing that because if I didn't, things would be different. I’m not as sad and sappy anymore, so things are better, but things would’ve been even better if I didn’t ...

“In the first grade, this is really dumb, but there was this kid I really liked and he liked me and we dated for like 15  minutes and he was super nice, but I regret breaking up with him for no reason. The reality is: I don’t truly regret much. One thing may be that I regret being really mean to my younger 5 year old brother, because people used to be mean to me and I took that out on him and ...

"When I act, I get to step out of myself and portray a different person. I can take on multifaceted, convoluted, or complex characters and make them my own."

"My favorite show is Steven Universe because it's a very open show. It doesn't limit itself from talking openly about sexuality and finding yourself."

"[I work harder to earn] praise and recognition, to feel like I am doing something right because I am always beating myself up."  

“I feel like I’ve always been at a high school level of maturity. The kids in my grade are just very immature. I already have senior-itis!” -Eva Elders, Freshman

"For a while I was extremely nervous, but now I'm fine. I'm working on paying more attention in class and also not feeding into other kids' drama and ignorance." -Andy Mureithi, Freshman