Policy: What's in It for Me?

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Into the Fold is part of the Texas Podcast Network, the Conversations Changing the World brought to you by the University of Texas at Austin. The opinions expressed in this podcast represent the views of the hosts and guests and not of the University of Texas at Austin. Before we begin, a quick note that the Hogg foundation has open funding opportunities for the Libraries Supporting Community Mental health Grants and the Stephanie Bryan Bold Spirit of Achievement Scholarships. To learn more about these opportunities, visit our website at hogg utexas. Edu Funding Opportunities and now we bring you episode 185 of into the Fold. When most people hear the word policy, they think of lawmakers, bills or political debates, not necessarily something that affects their day to day life. But policy is everywhere. It shapes the jobs that we can get, the healthcare we can afford, and the communities we call home. And for young people, understanding and influencing policy isn't just about civic engagement. It's about shaping the future they'll inherit. In this episode, we're talking with two leaders who help young Texans turn awareness into action and frustration into advocacy. Hi, welcome to into the the Mental Health Podcast. I'm Mike Evans and I'm glad to have you with us as we continue our season long exploration of growing capacity for change. This episode is part one of our policy arc. Over these three episodes we focus on how systems change happens and how mental health policy is shaped not just by moments of urgency, but by sustained leadership for today. Policy what's in it for Me? [00:02:18] Speaker B: Students have stories to tell and by sharing these stories we are able to really connect with each other on such an empathetic level. That's the thing that we need so much right now, is just community is connecting hearts and minds together, knowing that we are not alone, that every student has someone around them who who will listen to their story, learn from that, and then be able to inspire others. [00:02:49] Speaker A: Today's conversation is about young people stepping into policy work and why their voices matter. We'll explore how policy connects to everyday issues like mental health education and other issues impacting young people, and how the next generation of advocates is changing the conversation. Cameron and Ayaan, thanks for joining us. [00:03:35] Speaker C: Thanks for having us. [00:03:36] Speaker B: Thanks for having us. [00:03:37] Speaker A: I want to start with the basic question that's in our title, what's in it for me? For a lot of young people, policy Feels distant or abstract. So why does it matter? And why should someone who's 18, 22, or even 30 care about policy? [00:03:59] Speaker B: I started Seat because every student deserves a seat at the table. I mean, it's in our name. We're a movement of students all across Texas who are impacted by policies in our schools, in our communities. We as students are the primary stakeholders in education. These decisions are made about us, but traditionally, we are excluded from these decision making tables. And so by coming together as this peer mentor network where we're able to build up the civic leadership of our young people, we are getting involved in many of the spaces and conversations and programs and opportunities that young people are very passionate about, but just often lack that open door. And so we are not only opening those doors, but facilitating this bridge, breaking these barriers, building these bridges between students and democracy, essentially. [00:04:57] Speaker C: And I think it's so important that young people understand how policy affects their everyday lives, from anything to their education to the mental health supports that they get. Everything that you experience in school, at home, in your communities is affected by policymaking. So if you are struggling in school by not being able to find adequate mental health supports, if you're not getting accommodations, if you are not able to access external support for your mental health, if there aren't enough suicide prevention resources, those are all things that can be addressed through policymaking, through funding that are allocated by the government at the local, state, and federal levels. And so that's why you should care. Because if you are struggling, as many of us are, then you can make things better, not just for yourself, but for those around you and for those who come after you by advocating. [00:05:55] Speaker A: Okay, so, Cameron, you've spent what I would assume is a lot of time helping young people see themselves as advocates or even be able to sort of imaginatively project themselves into whatever the term policy summons up for them. Right? What is one moment that stands out to you where a young person realized that their voice could actually make a difference? [00:06:33] Speaker B: CEET hosted our community Engagement Fellowship convening this year in January. And we brought together students who are participating in this fellowship from across Texas, especially in rural communities where there's not necessarily a very easy way to access our state Capitol for our advocacy Day, we brought so many students to the Capitol. Half of these 300 students had never been to the Capitol before, and they got involved in opportunities like our fellowship. And at this convening, what we did was be able to start these conversations knowing. Knowing that our voices are powerful because every student has a story to tell. And so through this, we had a poetry workshop. And this poetry workshop was bringing our lived experiences in classrooms, in our communities, and facing these policy issues. And that was turned into something creative, expressive, something that we could find power within to change systems. And so by doing that, I saw all of these students here in this room be so proud, even though they were a little nervous at first, they were so proud to write out this poetry about their personal experiences and then share that with everyone else. And by using social media to elevate this expressive art, we were able to post on our seat socials about these. I mean, we were able to post these performances on our social media for the world to see. And that's really important right now because there's stigmas, especially with mental health, to break. If we aren't telling our stories, then we're left in the shadows. Students have stories to tell. And by doing, by sharing these stories, we are able to really connect with each other on such an empathetic level. That's the thing that we need so much right now, is just community, is connecting hearts and minds together, knowing that we are not alone, that every student has someone around them who will listen to their story, learn from that, and then be able to inspire others to tell their stories as well. [00:08:55] Speaker A: Okay, and Ayaan, in your experience, what are some of the main misconceptions that, that young people may have about policy work? And have you ever had any opportunity to help them overcome whatever misgivings they might have or just, you know, the vague feeling of this isn't for me, [00:09:19] Speaker C: yeah, we do that on a day to day basis. But I hear these misconceptions all the time, not just from young people, but from adults as well. Honestly, that, oh, the policymaking space is only for folks elected to Congress or elected to the city council or elected to the state legislature. And how could someone who's not elected possibly write a piece of legislation that gets introduced? Or how could someone who's outside of these institutions possibly influence funding decisions? And when we share the actual impact that seat has had, that we have introduced bipartisan legislation that passed through the US House around $990 million of funding for minority mental health. And that was led by young people. When we share that that was passed and that that was bipartisanly supported, folks are inspired and folks understand that these are things that really anybody can do. And so that's where young people then start coming to us and saying, okay, this is something that we're seeing in our schools, right? That we're seeing that there's not enough awareness about resources like the 988 Lifeline, that there's no protocols to handle bullying and how bullying affects mental health. And there's no awareness about the importance of firearm secure storage and how that relates to suicide prevention. And there's no adequate accommodations for students experiencing depression in school. So those are all things that students will come to us with. And our job is then to figure out how can we solve that. And so maybe it's sending a letter to the Education Commissioner in Texas, maybe it's sending a letter to the US Secretary of Education, maybe it's introducing a bill in Congress or the state legislature. Maybe it's going and meeting with the superintendent of the district and the board of trustees and seeing if it's something that can be addressed through local policy. There's so many different ways of going about this, but the main goal is that we at seat are not the people doing that. We are empowering other students to do that. Right. And so if a student comes forward and says, this is a problem we're facing in our district, we give them the resources, but we empower them to do it themselves. And actually, Cameron mentions this a lot, that they don't like the term empower because they already have the power inside of them. Our role is to help them realize that. [00:11:48] Speaker A: Okay, was that something that the two of you talked about extensively? What it is about the word empower that. [00:11:58] Speaker C: I mean, Cameron actually mentioned it on a call a couple days ago, and they've said it before, but that was the first time that it actually clicked in my head. [00:12:06] Speaker A: Well, maybe it's probably a tad overused, if we're being honest. [00:12:11] Speaker B: Language is just so critical. Our conversations are built by language, and the words that we use have power in them. So the word empower itself, I mean, can. See, let's just look at it this way. So if we're talking about mental health and we want to address the mental health epidemic, especially among young people, but we recognize that youth are often excluded from decisions, from policy making, from being heard by those who can support in ways like how members of Congress can fund programs, how universities can create programs to support students. And so when we think of empowering students, we might see that some people have power and some people don't. But it's only the people with power that can open the way for the people without power to get a seat at the table. But as Shirley Chisholm says, she had once proclaimed that if they don't give you a seat at the Table, bring a folding chair. And so I think that really embodies what we're getting at here when it comes to the word empowering, that everybody has power. We just have to realize that. And so we can each, as a community, you know, with SEAT as a peer mentor network, be able to help everyone realize that, yes, we do have power. We just have to vocalize it. We just have to bring it to the forefront. We just have to look within ourselves and reflect and then take up a microphone. That's. That's what we got to do. And so that's where SEAT is about mentorship. And we're emboldening students to find the power within themselves. So embolden might be a great alternative. How can we embolden youth to take up solving and addressing the youth mental health crisis in partnership and collaboration with intergenerational partners? [00:14:03] Speaker A: Yeah, I love that. So because once people realize policy is about their lives, not just legislation, it becomes personal, and that's where motivation really begins. And so it's like how to make just the right pitch in just the right language that someone can understand is kind of one. One theme that I'm sensing. Yeah. So moving, I think, from awareness to action. And perhaps with that being the focus of the rest of our conversation here today, one other question I have is that once a young person understands that policy affects them, because you've laid it out for them so elegantly, then the question is, what can I do about it? So how does SEAT help young advocates take that next step? And what does that journey look like? [00:15:24] Speaker B: Yeah, if one thing's true, I think not everyone is going to show up in the same way. Not everyone is going to take action, and we don't expect people to do that, because everyone's leadership journey, especially as youth, is going to be different. They're going to be having different interests. They're going to be in different spaces and communities. They're going to have different lived experiences or identities. They might also have different ideas of how to address the same problems that we know to be true and know to be part of our realities. But their envisioned solutions might be different. They might complement each other, but sometimes they even might conflict. And so SEAT is a movement where we have so much diversity in our movement as students. There's not one way to be a student. And so that makes us really unique of we are not necessarily creating this narrow view of what we stand for as a movement, but instead creating this broad view, this very nuanced and critical perspective to these challenges. Knowing that Multiple things can be true at the same time. And so when we call students to action, we want them to recognize that we have these problems and the solution is in your hands, that at our table, there's going to be many different solutions that we can advocate for. And we essentially present a menu. We present a menu of tactics and methods. I mean, opportunities and pathways for students to become leaders in this space. And so the experience with SEED is what students make of it. And when they come to our community, it's for them to learn and represent their views and voices and to learn from others. And so for action that can look in many different ways, we have a programs team and a policy team at seat. And so we put together these programs, like our fellowship and our annual statewide advocacy days. We also have our policy team leading various advocacy campaigns and engaging students in this advocacy, whether that's at the local level and in school boards, whether that's at our state capitol or whether that's at the federal level. And so Ayaan here is our federal policy director doing that kind of work to create pathways for students to get involved at the national level, where so many students, especially at the national level, but kind of everywhere, feel disillusioned. We feel like there's not really much we can do that no matter what we do, they're not going to listen. That is the feeling among so many students. But we debunk, dismantle that perspective at seat, knowing that we can provide concrete, tangible outcomes from our advocacy. And so, Ayaan, do you have any thoughts on there? [00:18:05] Speaker C: Yeah. And I want to preface this by saying that I think what also is power is lived experience. And I want young people to understand that. Right. Is that everybody has a different sense of what power is. And Cameron and I have seen lots of definitions over the years that we've been doing this, but I think that really what it is, is it's inside of you, and it's what you've been through. And what that means is, I have been struggling with clinical depression and OCD for seven years, and I have experienced a lot of trauma. And I have had to leave a school because of lack of accommodations for mental health, because of bullying. I have been hospitalized. I have seen the lack of support for young people in the hospital system in regards to mental. I have been put in the back of a police car when I was in a moment of crisis, when I was nonviolent, when that was clearly not the avenue of support that was needed. And after all of these experiences, I looked back on Them. And obviously, even thinking today about them, they still pain me and they still bring back those really, really sad and, and just heartbreaking memories. But at the same time, I realize that I'm not the only one who has experienced those things. And that's what leads me to want to craft policies to address those things and help other young people make sure that they don't have to go through what I went through. And so, you know, right after I was put in the back of a police car, two months after that, I wrote a bill that got introduced into Congress to make sure that localities are making sure that mental health professionals and paramedics are responding to mental health calls rather than solely law enforcement. So that is a direct result of what I went through turning into legislation in the US Congress. And as a 17 year old, I mean, that's really powerful. But I want other young people to know that they too can do that. And it is so hard to be able to, to look back on the terrible things that you've experienced and the trauma that you've been through and all the challenges. It is hard. But what we want young people to understand is that your experiences are powerful and that if you find the courage to share your experiences and be vulnerable, because vulnerability is strength. And if you can be vulnerable, then we can together make sure that the young people who come after us don't have to go what we went through. And so the first step after identifying what the problem is, is connecting with other stakeholders, right? Who are the other people that are affected by this? You know, if we're talking about mental health in schools, let's talk to the teachers groups, let's talk to the parents groups, let's talk to the administrators, let's get all stakeholders on board so that we can advocate together, because together is how we're more powerful. And in a time where there's a lot of hopelessness, where a lot of times young people feel like, you know, there's so much going on in the world, there is a lot that I'm going through. There's nothing I can do to make things better. I think that the policy space is you can feel like you're doing something bigger than yourself. And that's how I got started right when I got that, when I got diagnosed seven years ago, that's why I wanted to get into the policy space, because I wanted to channel my struggles into something bigger than myself. And that helped relieve that hopelessness that I felt. And the last thing that I'll mention here is just an example of us not empowering, emboldening other young people, which is. We are now launching our Mary Beth Tinker Federal Policy Fellowship, named in honor of a legendary advocate who went all the way to the Supreme Court to stand up for students rights, to make their voices heard. And what it'll do is we're gonna take students from across Texas, and they are going to come up with their own advocacy idea based on a policy issue that they're passionate about. And that can look like so many different things. That can look like an advocacy campaign, that can look like an event on Capitol Hill with members of Congress, that can look like a bill. And we're gonna fly them all to Washington, D.C. to be able to teach them firsthand skills and show them their power in policymaking, especially in a institution that is often so inaccessible to young people and to all Americans, frankly. [00:22:49] Speaker B: And we hope these success stories are common across the board. I mean, with our movement, when we talk about action, we know that there's too many school board meetings that don't have student voices, even though those decisions impact students. We know that there's so many news articles and media that is talking about students, but without us, it's talking about education, but without the stakeholders. And so when we think about action at sea, we believe that directly impacted students. Students like Ayaan and I, who have direct. Faced direct challenges with mental health, are at the forefront of this national conversation for mental health. And through that, that's why we are breaking those barriers, brokering connections for students to connect with journalists who we advocate to these traditional forms of power and influence. So journalists who have audiences that they write for, that they speak to, we connect journalists with students to share their stories. We train students to speak at school board meetings, to testify at the Capitol to. And it's those possibilities that so many students just don't even know could be on their bingo cards for the year. Students have so many firsts at seat. This is their opportunity to even learn how to write an email, a professional email. I mean, this is just something that is about skill development, but tied to the pain and the heartbreak that students have gone through or whatever motivates them, right? And so just really knowing that we are not alone and that we are in this journey together, and that advocacy, advocating for oneself, advocating for others, advocating for something bigger than ourselves, all of that advocacy is something so human, and that is what's going to build a world. Too many people say that young people are our future or that young people are going to save us. The kids are all right. That is something too commonly said. And so just like with empowering, we like to really say that students are not the next generation, but the youngest generation. Because as you heard just now from Ayaan, we are already doing this kind of work and not only directly ourselves as students, but helping other students do that too. And so we are active change agents today, not just tomorrow, but today. [00:25:23] Speaker A: Legislating is a senior coded activity. And I think that this becomes more true the higher up you go. I'm just curious about how you see younger advocates influencing the culture of policymaking itself and our institutions. You know, whether at micro scale macro becoming more responsive to youth perspectives in a way that you've been able to chart. [00:26:03] Speaker B: Well, I think something to point to is what Ayaan did in eighth grade was write a bill to get students onto school boards here in Texas. And that was a bill written by Ayaan in eighth grade. And he worked with so many different members of the Texas House to get this bill introduced, but then also to get this bill a hearing that so many people testified in support, including myself. That was the first time I think we met in person was at that hearing. And that was something that, I mean, you had done even before joining seat. You were leading another organization, you were finding your voice just like we were finding our voices, me and Hayden, the other co founder at seat. And we saw that this was something that we could really come together and build a partnership on. And then Ayaan, you brought this, steered it through the Texas house getting over 100 votes. That's a super majority in the Texas House. And that's just remarkable seeing that building these intergenerational coalitions and partnerships with policy professionals, with the elected officials that are making these decisions and seeing that they're taking us seriously. We unfortunately weren't taken seriously as much in the Texas Senate. It didn't pass in time. We tried it again the following session. Still kind of the same thing. But we're going headstrong still knowing that this is something that's really important to us, that we're going to continue building these relationships. Because there's so many people in the Texas House, in the Texas Senate, that believe in this mission, that want to work with us, wanting to give us the microphone. And I think that's just this bill, I mean, exemplifies our core mission for a seat at the table and knowing that it's coming from us. I mean, something that you have said ion during those hearings is that this isn't something that you know an interest group of lobbying firm. You know, something of this elite nature of policymaking is introducing, but rather something that is really coming from the directly impacted people. And so the lawmakers see that. They know that it's not every day that they see students at the Capitol. They know that this isn't really a full time job of just us there every day for years and years and years. They know that we're balancing our time with this, with being full time students as well. And so they see that and they look to us, I mean, in awe. But I also hope more of seeing that as legitimate power from us, that we're opening a new way, new doors for the future. [00:28:51] Speaker C: Exactly. And when I was advocating for that bill at the state capitol, I would be going from office to office and I would be talking about the bill and I would give a clear presentation about it and why their boss should support it. And. And at the end, they would say, hey, you look really young. How old are you? And I would tell them I'm in eighth grade. And they wouldn't believe me. And I would be walking through the halls and I would catch members of the legislature and I would tell them about the bill. At one point, I caught the chairman of the House Public Education Committee, who would be in charge of setting the hearing for the bill and helping it get through the House. And I said, Mr. Chairman, do you have a second to talk? He said, yeah, what you got? And I told him, I gave him a one minute elevator pitch about the bill, and I told him a little bit about myself. And I said, can I count on you to push it through the committee? And he said, I'll have to. I'll have to give it to my staff to take a look. I said, I've spoken with them, but can I count on your support? That's a super straightforward bill. He's like, I promise you, I'll take a look. I said, okay. And I didn't think anything would come of that because the amount of times I've heard that line that, oh, I'll take a look, a lot of times that doesn't lead anywhere. The next day I found out that not only had he put the bill up for a hearing the following week, but he had signed his name onto the bill as a supporter, as a joint author. And so that was really powerful for me. And when I spoke with him later on, he told me that he wouldn't have supported it if young people weren't the ones leading it. And him and I have become good friends now. And that's because that he supports youth voices. And we don't agree on everything, and that's totally fine. But we agree fundamentally that young people need to be stakeholders in the policy making process. And when I was testifying for the bill in the committee hearing that he was chairing, I laid out all the facts. I laid out what existing law said. I cited current law code, and I went to speak with his chief of staff after, and she said I was completely against my boss putting this up for a hearing. But when I heard you cite law code, I was 100% on board. And so these are things that are not unique. That is not the only time we've heard those things. I hear this all the time when working with members of Congress that, oh, we, you know, we would not be pushing this forward if us students weren't the ones coming forward with this, because we know you have no hidden agenda. You are there for you and your peers and you know, your experiences best, and we want to help you out. [00:31:34] Speaker A: Okay. So, Ayaan, you mentioned just some of your own mental health struggles. Yeah. And so I just can't help but wonder, because I generally wonder this about everybody, what sorts of things that the two of you find yourselves doing just to shore up your own emotional resilience and whether in response to, you know, the kinds of discouragements that are just native to the policy space or in general, anything that you feel comfortable with sharing. [00:32:10] Speaker C: Yeah, I think there's so many different things that I've been told and I've tried it. All right, Go on a walk, go journaling, take a shower. All of these different things. Like when you're feeling like the weight of the world is on your shoulders and that you're gonna collapse, you know, everybody has to find their own thing and you, you have to try it out. Right. And so for me, a lot of times it also varies. And so if it's the evening time and I'm feeling really overwhelmed and I have a good amount of work ahead of me, I like to take a shower and just calm down because that's the. I can't. I can't work on my laptop, I can't respond to emails. All I can do is just focus on what I'm doing. And so that's a way to center myself. Sometimes it's as simple as, hey, I have to take a call. I have to, you know, I have to talk to my colleagues. I have to work on something. Maybe I'll take it on a walk so that while I'm While I'm talking with them, I can at least take in the sights, take in the trees, breathe some fresh air. It's little things like that. But I think it's also realizing that you can't do it all. And what I mean by that is that you can try as hard as you want to try and quote, unquote, save the world to solve all the world's problems. And I think that's the mindset that Cameron and I both have. But what has been hard for me personally to realize is that all these problems that we face are not going to be solved in our lifetime. They're not going to be solved tonight, not going to be solved tomorrow, and we're not going to be able to get through our checklist of items or checklist of problems today. What we have to prioritize is we can and finding other people to do it with us. At the end of the day, if you take an hour off to go watch a movie or to go on a walk, you have to trust that there's someone else out there, whether you know them or not, that is picking up the slack for you. And you have to try and find those people and you have to support one another. But I think the biggest thing that helps me and build my resilience. And I love that word, resilience, right? It's such a good word. And I've heard it in so many different places. I've heard, we've been to some mental health conferences, that their themes are resilience. And I think we really need to, like, understand what that means. [00:34:38] Speaker B: That needs to be the theme of 2026. [00:34:40] Speaker C: It needs to be the theme, right, that no matter what we're going through, we're going to. We're going to get through it. And not just get through it, but we're gonna support the people around us and help them get through it, and we're gonna get through it together. Because I think that our society is in a crisis of lack of empathy. And I think that, particularly among young people, a lot of that had to do with the pandemic and, you know, when we were locked up and couldn't really interact with people. And, you know, I was around 11 at that time. And so I, you know, me and my peers, that was a really crucial developmental time to make sure that we were building those values of empathy and kindness and understanding of others. And I do see a lack of that in our society. And so what I want to do is build a world where young people and all people understand the value of being there for someone else, even when it's not convenient, even when it's hard, because you have the power to change someone's life, to save someone's life, and to really change the course of. Of humanity, honestly. And so one thing that I always hear and that I've been taught since growing up, and it's. It's mentioned in a bunch of different religions actually, too, not to bring religion into this, but honestly, it's mentioned in the Bible, it's mentioned in the Quran. It's. And the saying goes, he who. He who saves one man has saved all of humanity. And so if you can help one person, you are doing all that you can. And so what builds my resilience is the fact that I'm going to be there for any person that asks for my help. One thing that I've heard from young people is, oh, it's not our responsibility. No, it's not. It is not your job. It is not your responsibility, but it is the right thing to do. We all need to do the right thing. And the last thing that I'll say is that when we do these things, it really makes you a better person as well, and helps you. When you help other people, you're helping yourself as well. And I've always been a big fan of the starfish story, and a lot of people know it, but a lot of people don't. For those who don't know it, it's this man who's walking down the beach and there's a bunch of starfish on the sand and they've washed ashore, and if they stay on the shore too long, they'll die. And so the man starts picking up the starfish and throwing them into the ocean. And another man walks up and says, sir, why are you doing that? You'll never get through all the starfish on the beach. There's 10,000 of them. It's not going to matter. And the man picks up another starfish and throws it into the ocean and says, it mattered to that one. So I think that's really powerful. [00:37:52] Speaker A: Okay. Cameron, anything you'd like to add? [00:37:57] Speaker B: Yeah. Zion said we can't do everything. We can't spread ourselves too thin. And when we're up against something so big, especially as young people, just really trying to find our way in life and really find our purpose, what are we doing? I mean, I think our purpose can each be saving that one starfish and saving a life. It's also a core principle in Judaism. Pekuak nefesh is preserving life. And so that is something in my faith, but also I know that it's a core principle of humanity to really value that. And so as we evaluate what we can do to change the world and make the world a better place, also in Judaism, tikkun olam repairing the world. I mean, I think we each have these kind of values and ethics and morality in us. That culture is a big part of change of progress as society because we have laws, we have policies like this. But we also have to create culture. We have to create a culture of conversation. We also have to create a culture against burnout, A culture for balance, a culture of taking care of ourselves. Because we have to take care of ourselves before we can serve a movement that's bigger than ourselves. That is if we just want to solve all the problems that we know exist and we push ourselves to the limit, we just keep going. We burn ourselves out. And that's not really helpful. Sustainability is central in the work that we do at SEAT because we know that our students who are members and leaders know these problems exist and are dying to advocate to make a change. They're ready to take up that microphone, they're ready to take action. But we have to figure out that yes, that's really important. But also if you push yourself to the brink, then what are you gonna do tomorrow? Because what we do today has to help us be even stronger tomorrow in advocating. And so that's where I think these strategies of self care. I mean, talking about taking a walk and journaling and listening to music, you know, all these things, I think we have to have kind of in balance something that is part of our culture. I listen to music throughout the day. My minutes that I listen to throughout the year is a lot. I listen to a lot of music and that's something that just grounds me. It's a through line for me. And so something like that enriches me and gives me inspiration, motivates me and keeps me going. And so just it's daily habits. It's not isolating each of these self care methods and just doing it as a one off kind of activity, but really building those habits to journal every day. Something that I mean is going to really bring you that strength that we need, the health. Because if we aren't sleeping well, I mean that's often a self care method that is not talked about enough is sleeping. If we get a good night of sleep, that is something we have to take care of ourselves with. There's so many different ways to really bring ourselves up through taking care of ourselves that we need to prioritize and counseling and therapy and other methods of seeking mental health support is vitally important as well. And so really just learning more about what opportunities are available. Just like how we want 988 to be listed on school IDs and we need to have these resources at our fingertips and more accessible in the funding for it. Access to healthcare, but also just being aware of it. I think there's a huge stigma. [00:41:50] Speaker C: Stigma, yeah. [00:41:51] Speaker B: Regarding counseling and therapy and just too many people don't know what it is, what it looks like. Too many people think that it's not for them, but it can be for everyone. And just it's us really finding what works for us because we need that before we can go headstrong into a movement which we are leading for these very same issues and ideals. But we have to live out this movement. We have to advocate in a way that is aligned with the very practices that we're advocating for. If we want to break stigmas and advance youth mental health, we have to live by that every day. [00:42:36] Speaker A: Before we say goodbye to Cameron and Ayaan, you should know that they have agreed to do a little experiment with us. Last year, the Hogg foundation policy team released a new toolkit, Lived Experience Storytelling Primer for Advocacy. The purpose of this toolkit is to encourage people with lived experience to engage in advocacy while using a trauma informed lens to take care of themselves and their stories. Ayan and Cameron have agreed to share this toolkit with members of their community. And in our very next episode, which will be all about storytelling, we'll have an update for you. So you too, have fun with this. [00:43:22] Speaker C: Yes, we will. [00:43:25] Speaker A: Cameron and Ion, thanks so much for taking the time to be with us today and good luck with everything. [00:43:31] Speaker C: Thank you. [00:43:31] Speaker B: Thank you. [00:43:33] Speaker A: As we wrap up a quick reminder that this episode is part of our new season theme, Growing Capacity for change. Across four ARCs, community, partnership, policy and Research, Innovation and Education. We're exploring how people all across Texas are growing their capacity toward a better, more lasting mental health landscape. If you missed the most recent arc of episodes, Partnership, it is in our back catalog and I hope you take the time to check it out for your listening enjoyment. Here are some snippets from those three conversations. It is a place where we are [00:44:17] Speaker C: concerned not just with the soul of [00:44:19] Speaker A: the person, but we're also concerned about the entire being. And so when it comes to mental health, we can be a resource, we can be a place for information, and [00:44:29] Speaker C: we can also be a place where [00:44:30] Speaker A: we can guide people to places where they can get the help that they need. [00:44:33] Speaker C: So we do stuff for, for the inpatients and the staff. And when nami, which is more of a and I'll let Colleen talk a little bit more. But we love our partnership with them [00:44:47] Speaker B: because they are more of an outpatient education support system. And so we need, you know, individuals need family support, they need outside support. [00:44:57] Speaker C: And so I love that we have started a really, really, really binding partnership. You cannot work to address these big [00:45:08] Speaker A: issues in silos, right, because it creates duplication, it creates confusion. [00:45:14] Speaker C: And there is a power in people coming together and just sitting in a room and learning what each other is doing. And even if that is the agenda [00:45:26] Speaker A: for that, that meeting is like, hey, I didn't know you were doing this, [00:45:28] Speaker C: or I didn't know you had a van and I've been needing a van for the last 10 years. There is power in just having a community come together, cross sectors to sit in a room and talk about an issue. [00:45:44] Speaker A: If you haven't already, check out our previous episodes this season and follow along as we continue to tell stories that connect and inspire. What we've heard today from Cameron and Ayaan reminds us that policy isn't just paperwork or politics. It's people. It's the set of choices that shape who gets seen, who gets supported, and who gets left behind. And when young people bring their voices, their stories and their energy to that process, they don't just change policy, they change what's possible. And that does it for this episode. We're glad that you could join us. Production assistance by Cheyenne Salazar, Kate Rooney and Daryl Wiggins. And thanks as always to the Hog foundation for its support. If you have comments or anything you would like to share about the podcast, feel free to reach out to us at into the foldustin Utexas. Edu. Especially thoughtful comments will be acknowledged during a future episode. Your My Our Mental Health Matters. Please leave us a review and subscribe to us on your preferred podcast platform. And don't forget to check the show notes for related content, including past episodes. Transition Music by Antoni Rajakov Taking us out now is Anna's Good Vibes by our good friend Anna Harris. Thanks for joining us.