Hi! My name is Julia Banuelos and I am a second generation Mexican-American. Living in Piedmont for nearly my whole life, I have always felt isolated and misunderstood. This is my third year in the program, so I look forward to sharing my experiences and building a community for fellow students of color, in hopes of helping foster more positive experiences for future generations.

Hello, my name is Morgan Hunt and I am a senior at Piedmont High School. I am an African American and have been a part of the mentorship program since sophomore year. I have been in the Piedmont school system for my entire life and it has come with a lot of challenges. Often times at school I felt that the color of my skin was something that I should be ashamed of. It felt like I was never good enough. But, recently I’ve learned to grow an appreciation for my identity and all that comes with it. I am so excited to be a part of the mentorship program again this year so that I can help kids to understand that they’re aren’t alone and that they shouldn’t be afraid to be themselves. 

Hi! My name is Tara Kothari, and I am a first generation Indian-American. I am a senior in high school and I've been a part of the mentorship program since the summer before my sophomore year. I've always wanted to be a part of a community such as this one, and ensure that young students get a safe space to celebrate their culture. 

My name is Hamza Mahmood. I am a first-generation Pakistani-American and have full Pakistani lineage as well as citizenship. Growing up as a minority, especially in Piedmont, made me often feel out of place. As a kid, I always looked down on my ethnicity and tried my hardest to “be like the other kids”. 

However, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned that I don’t have to pick to be either American or Pakistani and can be both. I’ve become proud of my Pakistani heritage and feel that while it makes me different it’s in a good way rather than in a bad one. I hope I can share my unique childhood experiences of growing into my own skin with the youth I hope to mentor.

My name is Ethan Pham and I am a first generation Vietnamese-America. I’m full Vietnamese, and growing up I feel like most people didn’t know the smaller Asian countries and would always group me in and label as Chinese. I also felt like my culture at home would constantly and to this day clashes with my culture at school. It’s my first year in the mentorship program and I hope to help youth in our school trip who are going through the same experiences that I went through.

Hi, my name is Addy Neel and my pronouns are she/her. I am currently a senior and identify as mixed, half white and black. I have been apart of this program for two years now and it has brought me so much joy! With this program I am able to make so many new connections and share experiences with the kiddos I mentor. Sharing these experiences in my pass mentor group  allowed them to feel safe and comfortable enough to also share what they have experienced.This builds a great sense of community and comfort within the group. Now I am just a senior and don’t have the answers for everything and sometimes get a little stumped on how to answer an approach certain things this is why I am do glad to be taking this course! It will allow me to learn more, help me explore my identity and gain information that when shared people can benefit from.

My name is Alex King and I am a senior at MHS. I am on the autism spectrum, and I have other learning abilities that affects how I work. Over the years, I have been able to control it and started to help other students with school work. I joined the Affinity Mentorship Program because I want to help younger students who have similar challenges and let them know that they can do it.

My name is Sofia Prieto Black, my pronouns are she/her, and I'm a senior at PHS year! I'm African American and Mexican and have grown up living between the duality of my two cultures. Moving to the states, at a young age, forced me to assimilate into American life and lose sight of my Mexican identity. Though this caused a great sense of confusion, isolation, and even shame, I've grown to redefine my sense of self. As a mentor, I aim to provide and foster a space of comfort for my mentees to learn and express themselves fully. I also hope be a role model to little people so they don't ever have to experience the saddening implications of a primarily white community. I also look to inspire others to be proud of what makes them unique and want to continue to develop my comfortability in my identity! 

Hi, My name is Sohrab but you can call me Seb. I am transgender, and use he/him pronouns. I am half Iranian-half white. I wanted to join the Affinity Mentorship class to help younger students feel safe in exploring their identity and give a positive representation of both the Middle Eastern and Trans communities. 

I’m an African-American, Indigenous, Mexican girl in 12th grade at Millennium. I grew up in a small school in North Oakland, and have always valued having a tight knit community. I, being mixed, never really felt like I belonged anywhere due to all of the different identities I held. I want to help kids know that

My name is Stephanie Tsung (she/her) and I am a senior at Piedmont High. I am Chinese-American and I immigrated to America from Hong Kong last year. Moving from a country where I was part of the majority to Piedmont where I am now a minority, I had to go on a journey of discovering and embracing my identity as an Asian-American. I want to be able to use my experiences and my knowledge to empower other little kids who are going through similar struggles and support them during their formative years.

My name is Xiaowei Elias. I am a senior at Millennium High School. I identify as an Asian-American. I was adopted from China when I was ten and a half. I came to America without knowing how to speak any English. As a result it was difficult for me to fit in at first because I was only one of the four Chinese students at my elementary school. I want to become an Affinity Mentor because I want to be able to help kids find a place in the community.