Media making has encouraged me to ask questions and search for the answers; to reflect on my own experiences and connect with my community.

I was always drawn to storytelling in media: the process of finding meaning in the uncertain. Yet I was hesitant to share my own stories. How could a teenager’s ideas have any impact? At least, that’s what I told myself.

In 2021, cases of COVID-19 skyrocketed, and so did reports of anti-Asian violence. Seeing the fear of my community reflected in these news stories, I knew I had to speak up in some way. But how? While people were out in the streets protesting racial injustice, I was quarantined in my bedroom, drifting aimlessly from one Zoom call to another.

While I may have felt helpless, I certainly wasn’t voiceless. I realized that I could contribute in my own way: through media. Even if I didn’t think I could make a difference, media making had always been an outlet to find my voice. Maybe it was time to share it. I decided to make a short documentary interweaving my family’s history with a broader backdrop of Asian American history.

“While I may have felt helpless, I certainly wasn’t voiceless.”

However, I quickly learned that filming this documentary wasn’t just about making a statement. Writing my script required me to reflect on my own past and privilege. Reaching out for interviews allowed me to begin conversations with my friends and family – discussions that turned isolated fears into collective experiences, reckonings, and understandings.

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But the conversations didn’t stop there.

My film teacher, Ms. Sidley, helped me submit my video to KQED’s Youth Media Challenge showcase, and I was given the opportunity to present my work at the Youth Media event “I Made This”. This was my first experience with public speaking, and I was worried that my message would be lost amid the jumble of my nerves. Would it even matter? How could a high schooler contribute to the discussion? But when I spotted my mother in the crowd, I remembered that I was simply here to tell my family’s story.

“I received messages from my relatives
who had watched the live stream,
grateful to see themselves represented on screen.”

Speaking what was genuine and truthful to me was the heart of mediamaking, I saw. And that is where impact originates: the force of a single voice, spreading out in ripples. After the event, I spoke with audience members, and it was incredible to see how my piece connected with people across cultural and generational barriers. A woman shared similar experiences of feeling disconnected from her Mexican heritage while living in America. I received messages from my relatives who had watched the live stream, grateful to see themselves represented on screen.

KQED’s Youth Media curriculum gave me a platform to explore issues relevant to my community, but more importantly, it also gave me the confidence to continue discussing these issues and speaking out through media. Media making has encouraged me to ask questions and search for the answers; to reflect on my own experiences and connect with my community. Every student and every person, regardless of age, can make an impact by telling their stories. Speak up. But also, speak out.

Clara Chiu is a senior at Woodside High School and part of the KQED Youth Advisory Board. She has been involved in several KQED Live events and published on KQED Perspectives and The California Report magazine. When not writing, she can be found reading outdoors with her cat.

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The Force of a Single Voice