Youth Spotlight: Elyssa

At FEEST, we have the incredible privilege of working with some truly inspiring young people. Today, we’re excited to spotlight one of our shining stars, Elyssa, who is graduating both from high school and our program. Elyssa is a force to be reckoned with—a creative, a cartoonist, and a passionate advocate for change. Let’s dive into his journey and celebrate his achievements!

EMZ is a cartoonist and writer from Seattle, Washington. He’s worked for FEEST as a student organizer for 3 years and has a passion for organizing and advocating for change. He is an advocate for disability acceptance, media literacy, anti-censorship, and comics as literature. He currently resides in White Center, WA.

Dev: Hi Elyssa! To kick things off, can you introduce yourself to our readers? Share your name, pronouns, grade, school, favorite color, favorite animal, and any shows you’re currently watching.

Elyssa: I’m Elyssa, and I’m currently a high school senior at Evergreen in White Center. I am a cartoonist, so I like drawing, it’s pretty much the main thing I do! I love comics and I love cartoons. I love rabbits. I love seals. I’m a creative. I like making things with my own hands, whether that be traditional or digital, or the written word, poetry, or anything like that. I love creating, that’s how I express myself.

Dev: That’s awesome! I love creating with my hands too. Creativity is such a beautiful way to express yourself. So, why did you decide to join FEEST?

Elyssa: I joined FEEST because food justice is a topic close to my heart. Food in school is an issue that I like talking about! I saw that I could get paid also which was great because I come from a low-income household, and even though it doesn’t look like it on the outside, we are living paycheck to paycheck. Me and my siblings have to help financially by getting a job and I didn’t have one at the time, so I thought this would be a good thing to support my family.

Dev: Thank you for sharing that with me, that is a big responsibility! So you’ve been with us for a minute then, is this your fourth year with FEEST? 

Elyssa: My third year I think! I joined in late 2021. 

Dev: Nice! Since you’ve been here for a while, I’d love to ask you, what’s one thing you’ve discovered about yourself during your time with FEEST?

Elyssa: I’ve learned that it is okay for me to get involved at my own level. There are lots of ways to be an activist! You don’t always have to put yourself on the front lines in dangerous situations that could get you arrested or even killed. Everyone has their own capacity, and they can choose what is right for them. FEEST is one of the ways that I did that. We’ve had a couple of walkouts and speaking opportunities at my school, but I am not entirely mentally and emotionally capable of doing a lot of that. I have autism. I have a lot of trouble interacting with others and being around people. Something like FEEST which can be done in person or remotely, allows me to participate at my level, but still advocate for change. That helped solidify for me that it is okay to not do everything. Go at your own pace, because no matter how small people think their actions can be, you can always leave your mark on the world. 

Dev: That’s such a powerful reflection, thank you so much for sharing it with me! I resonate with a lot of what you shared. Every role is vital when it comes to making change. What does youth-led organizing mean to you?

Elyssa: To me, youth-led organizing is either a movement started by youth, led by youth, or specifically trying to solve an issue that involves youth. Whether it’s climate change, racism, homophobia, or mental health, it’s about having our voices heard and leading the way in creating solutions. Things that are for youth, by youth. They have to have direct involvement.

Dev: Absolutely! I loved that you said direct involvement because sometimes people will say something is youth-led, and there won’t be a single youth around. Genuine youth involvement is key. What advice would you give to aspiring youth organizers?

Elyssa: Always stay curious and always stay critical. Ask questions, and push for answers. Often times the people in power try to limit how much power YOU have. They try to work you with words, like “Oh that’s not our thing, that’s not our responsibility, maybe you can just do this.”

Always ask, “Okay who CAN I talk to?” “What power DO you have?” Stay learning, always ask questions, and always be open to new information, because that’s always going to help you move forward and solve the issues you have. 

Dev: I love that answer so much! Wise words, Elyssa. Let’s talk about mental health. Why is it important to you, and why do you support FEEST’s mental health campaign?

Elyssa: In middle school and early high school, I was going through something very bad, and I just wished I had support from my school. I was doing bad academically because this thing was happening, and I was suffering. Very few people reached out to me and very few people actually tried to help, and when they did help it didn’t feel personal. What I mean by personal is that there was a strict process for supporting students who were struggling, but it felt general and less tailored to actual student’s struggles. I didn’t feel supported.

It’s not that the teachers and staff were bad, but they weren’t trained to care for mental health in that way. Like I mentioned earlier, I am mentally disabled and there are a lot of other students who are. The way my brain functions if different than a lot of other people’s, and it’s really hard to live and do things that are expected out of everyone when I am not mentally capable of doing. I am a lot different than other people, I have a lot more limits and I want that type of thing to be acknowledged. It’s hard when teachers aren’t trained to handle students like me. 

Dev: That’s powerful. That reminds me of y’alls SEL training campaign goals for the campaign. Thank you SO much for sharing that. It’s so important for schools to address mental health holistically for different students. I’m sorry you weren’t able to get the support that you needed. 

Elyssa: Thank you. I thankfully have a support system now!

Dev: I love to hear that. Speaking of support systems, Do you have any tips for upcoming seniors on managing stress and staying balanced?

Elyssa: Talk with your teachers and counselors. Try to form a connection with any staff that you can, because chances are they would be open to talking with you. My best relationships are with teachers, and it’s helped me academically and mentally to always have someone you can go to. Find at least ONE person who will have your back and support you. Another piece of advice is to just turn your work in. Even if it’s not done, it is better then having nothing there! 

Dev: Great advice, thank you so much, Elyssa. Tell me about your dreams! What do you envision for yourself, what do you envision for the world we live in? What are you dreaming about? 

Elyssa: I’ve always wanted to be a cartoonist, and I am one now! Now I want to be a larger one. I want to create my own comics. In Seattle there’s a very large underground artist scene. I dunno if you’ve ever been to the Punk Rock Flea Market but it’s one of my favorite events ever. I’ve always wanted to be one of those people who is selling their own crafts and zines and comics. I would LOVE to do something like that. I would love to not work under a publishing house drawing for someone else. I want to create my own things. I know it’s a pretty tough industry to break into but I’m willing to do whatever it takes. I am willing to get a second job, but I just want to be able to create my own things. My own stories, my own series. I want to do all of that! 

I just hope we can live in a world where youth are listened to more, and everything is less polarized in terms of politics. I hope we can get away from having everything be so bipartisan and apart. I like history, I like politics too. It seems like since 2016 everything has been so polarized. You didn’t really see that before, the radicalness that we have on our plate. I’d like to see people willing to work with each other. More cooperation, more collaboration between people, because that’s the only way we can meet our goals. 

Dev: That’s so powerful! I can’t wait to see your comics and love that you don’t want to work for a big publishing house. Finally, is there anything else you’d like to share with our community?

Elyssa: Always be on the lookout for new talent and always be ready to pass the torch. That’s what I’m doing right now! I think we have a great set of organizers who are ready to take on the amount of responsibilities that I’ve had as a returner for two years. I am excited to see what they can do. I may not be in FEEST anymore after graduation but I’m always going to support this organization because they’ve done a lot for me and my school. I always appreciate the work that you guys do. 

Dev: That makes my heart so warm! Thank you for being a part of this community and passing the torch to a new generation of young people Elyssa!

As we celebrate Elyssa’s graduation from high school and FEEST, his passion for creativity, food justice, and youth-led organizing has been truly inspiring. Elyssa, congrats on reaching this milestone! Your dedication is awesome! To everyone reading, thank you for supporting youth like Elyssa who are making a difference. Your encouragement fuels our mission to empower young leaders and create positive change. Here’s to Elyssa’s bright future as a talented cartoonist and community organizers!