Every Student Needs A Voice by Ayomide

Every Student Needs A Voice by Ayomide - June 2026 Scholarship Essay

When I first envisioned going to a catholic high school, my mind automatically shifted to a conservative setting fixed into a box of limitation. Because of catholic traditional standards, I never expected students to have so many ways to express themselves through the cultivation of clubs or activities. I thought that catholic schools automatically meant limited voices, because the conversations and experiences in a catholic school have strived to be somewhat distant from a secular world. It turns out my assumption about catholic high schools is wrong, in fact, when I had my first theology class, my theology teacher acknowledged the atheists, agnostics, and the students who came from different denominations or religions. When I joined my first club, I saw that all the clubs and organizations were not confined to religious-related values. There was an assortment of groups to be apart of like the Cooking club, which made cultural cuisines every week, or Film Club, where students found solace in watching the SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. There were more clubs like Hispanic Student Coalition and Black Student Union, that established an environment for students to bond amidst their cultural similarities. The beauty of going to Marian Catholic High School for me was witnessing all of the diversity that came from going to a school that strived to represent all. But with all the beauty comes a little bit of flaw, I realized that Marian Catholic High School was missing something pivotal. There were contestants and stage for the voices of students to be heard, but there was no microphone. I realized that our school could have been better if we allowed students to speak on their experiences through journalistic initiatives. Our students deserve a solid platform to promote the beliefs that they are passionate about, and the one thing Marian Catholic was missing was providing those interviews to students who wanted to document their club activities, we were missing a stable newspaper to record all the school-wide events. We had a news platform, but we weren't using it to the best of our advantage, if anything, we were downplaying the diversity that our school had. If I could improve anything at Marian Catholic, I would improve the journalistic initiatives to uphold the voices of students. We deserve documentaries, interviews, investigative series, and many more to make sure that everyone is seen and heard. And taking the first step doesn't take a team, it only takes one person who is passionate enough to make the difference.