S1: My name is Sarah Abigail. I want to share the story behind my mental health. Growing up in the Mexican culture , I was never educated on mental health. Nor were my parents or theirs. And so for most of my childhood , I didn't even know what mental health was. Sure , I had heard of depression and anxiety , but I thought that's for crazy people. Or that it was a made up illness to get attention. So when I would struggle against chronic stress and nightmarish low self esteem , heritability and sensitivity and more , I thought it was normal when I would try to fix everything tumbling down on me. My parents would label as behavioral problems , so taking away TV or sweets for me would fix it all. Threatening therapy is a crazy person. What do you need , a therapist or something? I shut down completely. I have experienced severe emotional abuse from my peers growing up , while still having to handle pressures from the expectations adults had of me becoming a sister , let alone the oldest , and watching my mom suffer from physical illness. And this trauma developed into the disorders I have today , and I can now own that. Then Covid hit. Quarantine changed everything. Like many teens my age , I was suddenly isolated , cut off from normal life , stuck in my own thoughts with everything amplified. School is on zoom and there is no escape from what I was feeling. I reached out when I was 13 years old. It was during the pandemic and they had to fill out a mental health check in every question. How often do you feel this? I felt everything intensely. It said that if I checked a high score on more than one to reach out to the school counselor , and in that moment I realized I needed to do something. So without telling my parents , I met with the school counselor , drowning in tears , and what she told me was that I needed therapy. And so she referred me to behavioral health. And I told my parents I started to get the help I needed. I was diagnosed with major depression , generalized anxiety , social anxiety , and obsessive compulsive disorder. OCD and I continue to suffer every day from these illnesses and from symptoms of psychosis. Happiness became something that felt unattainable at times. What has helped me is my relationship with God , my friends and family , and therapy and something that never fails to give me joy is board games. So growing up , boardgames were one of the few times I felt present laughing , connecting , forgetting everything else for a moment. And at some point I started to think. What is something like that could also reflect what we actually go through? Inspired by games like The Game of Life , I created a board game the summer of my sophomore year when I was 16 years old. It's called high School the Game. The goal of the game is to have the most happiness , to be the least depressed by graduation because I wanted a point away from money centered gameplay. I used my own experiences and the experiences of others to create something that starts conversations about things we don't usually talk about. I am so grateful for all the love and support I have received since releasing this game , and I continue to advocate for those who are going through the unimaginable. But this story isn't just about me , and it's not just about a game. It's about the reality of being a teenager today. The pressure , the choices , the relationships and the struggles that don't always get talked about. In this episode of voices Del Valle , you'll hear from students , educators and mental health professionals as we break down what high school life really looks like and why conversations like these matter now more than ever. Because behind every decision , every bad day , every moment , there's a story. And sometimes all it takes to start that conversation is a game.
S2: For Sarah , creating the game started as something personal , but when she brought it to school , it became something bigger.
S1: I grew up loving board games , and it's always been a great way to get out of my show and to spend time and get to know my friends more. I made high school the game in the summer of my sophomore year when I was 16 years old. So hard at high school. The game reached people like you. It started as a fun project until the day I brought it to school. Here I welcome my guests Marlee , Athena , and Edison. The reason I brought the game to school in the first place. What was your first impression like? Like first? Like playing it. Like when I did bring it to this. To school.
S3: My first impression was just that it takes a lot of creativity to do that. Like , I remember when I was little , I liked making board games as well. And I made one with like little tokens made out of cardboard. But to actually , like , make it into something that uses like actual graphic design stuff. I just thought that was really impressive and it was really fun to play it. I mean , like when you first told us about it , was like , wow , that's cool.
S1: Yeah , it was really cool.
S3: I came in and she was like.
S1: Oh , what are you guys playing? And I was like , oh , it's a board game. My friend made like she made it.
S3: And she was like a.
S1: Board game.
S3: And I was like , yeah , it.
S1: Was like the high school around.
S3: The Imperial. Valley.
S1: Valley. At first , people noticed how creative the game was , and I honestly was just focusing on the creative part. But later on , I realized that subconsciously , the real purpose behind it was about mental health. Yeah.
S4: Look at all the happiness. Yes. Thank you. We must take this all the way. No.
S1: The currency of high school. The game is not money , but rather happiness. The player with the most happiness tokens wins the game. The motto of the game is the less depressed , the better. He joins me. Camila Gonzalez , a junior and member of change makers at Central Union High School , to discuss why happiness counts. Literally. Yeah. So , um , first of all , like the happiness , like the concept of of it as in the game. Like , what do you how do you think that relates to real life , I think. Obviously , I feel like high school shouldn't be like the peak time in your life , but I think it's really important to try to do things like participate in activities , which is what we do in the game in order to be happy. Or I think that's also important for mental health too , is doing activities and creating relationships that can make you happy. And I think that does reflect off of what high school is really like , because I think the more that you do , not necessarily is , the happier you'll be , but the more involved you are. And I think that kind of reflects with the game. Also like the types of classes , if you do well , then you remain happy. Or if you win in a football game a lot of the time that lifts somebody's spirits up. So yeah , yeah. And like for example , how do you think about like for example , because in the game there's different things that like unexpected things that happen or sometimes like decision making that affects. And we'll talk about that later in the podcast. But I think I definitely do think , I think that sometimes , you know , something bad will happen that can really affect your mood. And it's sometimes it's not just something that's like like a like , oh , you got a bad grade on a test. Sometimes it's more than that. Like , you get really bad news. And that does really affect mental health. And it can affect your state of mind for a long time. And definitely that like , you know , balancing life is important. And so I think that that's mainly what I wanted to give with the happiness tokens is to show that , you know , like different things affect you in life and , you know , you can take control over some things and some things you can't , but you need to like , power through , you know , in that helps out. And the mental health aspect is really important , you know , for all of us. Yeah. Have you seen that thing where it's like , like seasons of life? Do you know what I'm talking about? Where , like , there's some times when you're not going to be happiness happy. And I think or like I said , like I'm on my this era. Yeah. Yeah. And I think that's that , like , makes sense because it's like there's some points in your life when , like , you kind of have to accept , like you can't always be extremely happy because that's just not how life works. Like there's ups and there's downs. And especially during high school , I feel like there's so much , so many emotions that are kind of going around because everybody's just at that age , whether you're a freshman or whether you're a senior. And I think , um , you know , that really reflects also just like this , different seasons of life and the fact that in the game , again , you can't always have like you can have 20 like tokens of happiness or you could have zero. And I think that's , you know , something that's real in life too.
S2: In high school the game moods can change quickly. Just like in real life. Sometimes you're caught in an awkward situation or a really personal one.
S1: On every blank yellow space on the board , players take an event card from the top of the pile. Event cards can make you lose or gain happiness depending on the content of the card. These cards represent the inevitable in high school life. I'd like to welcome Central Union High School junior and member of changemakers , Alia murillo , as we take a look at the most controversial and relatable cards yet. Hi , my name is Aaliyah and something that I've noticed about the event cards is how relatable they can be to our experiences in high school. So yeah , I think that , um , I definitely think a lot of them are based on true stories. Like , we have the cards here with us , and Leah picked out some that she wants to talk about. But , um , let's see , what do you want to start with? Okay , so there's actually one that really caught my attention because it's something I've done , which I shouldn't be proud of.
S4: But Rob , someone took your piece. Okay. I had to check it out with a piece.
S1: It would have been like reading your mind.
S4: It looks like your PC for your backpack. While you were walking down the hall. Someone had pregnancy cravings.
S1: So although I do not have pregnancy cravings , I did see a hasty one time and I really wanted it. And I was too scared to ask because I didn't know the kid. So his his tea was just on the side of his backpack and I just ended up grabbing it. And I just took it to drink and I know I shouldn't , I shouldn't have done that , but honestly , it was really worth it. Like I did. Little Johnny comes up a lot in this game. Oh , yeah. I've seen. Yeah. Little Johnny is the name of one of the relationship cards , which we'll talk about later , but , um. Yeah , so it says Little Johnny called you a slur. Jonathan , little Johnny says his name called you an n word because you didn't buy from his plug. So this one is , like , inspired by a lot of things like that because , well , first of all , little Johnny in the game , he's white , so he shouldn't be saying that word for to begin with. And I know a lot of people who like , oh , I'm not friends with them , but like , I know a lot of people who do that. Yeah. And then also like I've been asked before , like , like actually I was asked before if I was a plug. Oh , Sarah. And I was like , what? Like , I can't imagine that. Yeah. And I was like , um. And by the way , if anyone doesn't know what a plug is , that's like the drug dealer. Yeah. And , um , so I was really like. Like , uh. No. Like , I don't even do drugs. I'm a good kid. Like. Like , why would you think that bad about me? Like. Yes. Because it was a kid that didn't even know me , so , like. Oh , but. Yeah , but like , he was like , yeah. Like , oh , yeah. Are you the plug? And I was like , what are you talking about? Like I'm high school. The game plug. But like not a drug plug. Yeah. And that's what what like this card was like based off of kind of. Yeah. So that was he I guess little Johnny was inspired by that guy. Like , well , like , I haven't , I've been called that , but not not because of not buying from a plug. I don't guys I don't , but yeah , a lot of people here just throw it out there and they just like they just think it's like the funniest thing about like high school isn't really just about the obvious dramatic things. Sometimes it comes from everyday things like grades , sports and trying to balance everything at once. Hi , I'm Jayla. So , um , speaking of so in high school , the game , the the classes are basically there's like these they're cards. Right. And you just you get four random like classes and then you when you reach a report card space , you roll the dice and then you see what , like what's what grade you got. Right. And so and there's also sports where you can choose to be in a sport. Right. And then you roll the dice to see how you're doing. So how do you think like that. Like relates to like your own. Like to like your own experience. Like with actual like in real life I think , um , for the like the sports , I think like , you know , how you roll the dice and I think you can do like JV and varsity and stuff like that. I think it's similar to like in-person where it's like you , you kind of like roll the dice to see , like the coaches to see , like how good you are and stuff like that. To see. Like what? Like , like where you're at. So I feel like it's really similar to like , sports now because it's like , um , I don't know. I don't know how to explain. It's like it's just it's so cool and so realistic. So I don't. I don't know. I don't expect it's like a gamble. Yeah. Like you , sometimes you don't know how you're gonna do. Like , it's about the effort that you put in , right? Exactly. But. Yeah. And then also with , like , classes. Like , there's more like academic pressure. Like for sure. Yeah. Like , what do you have? Like , what do you think? I think you really have to have a balance. Because if you don't have a balance with sports and like your academics , it really obviously like your mental health does go down or it will go up. But for me , like I have to like I really have to have a balance because if I don't like , like in the game , like my happiness gone , it will be gone. Absolutely. So I think it's I just really like how the game is so realistic in like the sports and the class and grades and stuff. It's crazy. Like , what are things like that maybe have like , um , like maybe like affected like the way that you are able to like performance in sports or classes , like what's affected. Yeah. Um , I feel like when , like , I'm so focused on , like , my sport , like , I don't focus on my academics and stuff. So I feel like. Like my grades go , like , really down. And then I like , one of the season's , like , over. I have to , like , pick up those grades back again. And it's like really hard.
S2: But one of the biggest influences on a teenager's mental health can be relationships. And during high school , those relationships can affect the way students see themselves and others.
S1: Relationships are complicated , especially in high school. I'd like to bring mental health specialist Catalina Gonzalez to talk about what happens when you land on a relationship space in the game , and the implications behind dating in high school.
S5: Hi , I'm Catalina Gonzalez. I'm a school based mental health specialist or therapist. I work for Imperial County Office of Education , but my school site is Central Union High School. Here at central , we provide a lot of different services such as individual Therapy. Group therapy. Risk assessments. Clinical case management. Which means we need to connect the student with outside agencies , community agencies for mental health services. We do that as well. So I wanted to talk.
S1: About the relationship. So the relationships part of the game right. So when a player lands on a relationship space , they take the top two cards of either pile of the male or female. And then they would pick between those two choices who they want to be with.
S5: So when we enter a relationship and we start meeting people with the intention to date , it is important to consider how that person will impact our lives , including if it's a boy or girl. Right. Whatever your preference is , whoever you feel comfortable. So keep in mind that who we decide to spend our time with. It starts impacting our behavior , our values , our emotional well-being or mental well-being. It's still developing during adolescence and it actually doesn't stop developing until about. Mhm. I'm just going to say 24 and 26 between 24 and 26 years old , which is why a lot of people do not make really good decisions between now and in their early 20s because again , it's still developing. So at the same time , the emotional and reward centers of the brain are very active. So we have that going. Your prefrontal cortex is still developing and that's when the impulsivity comes into place. It is important to remember that teen dating violence is more than just physical. It includes emotional , verbal , digital , meaning anything social media or with our phones. If we send pictures or we're not supposed to. Um , and even sexual abuse. Right. Even though they're your partner , doesn't necessarily mean that you have access to their bodies. They still have to provide verbal consent. Um , you know , sometimes it does start with little warning signs , like extreme jealousy , controlling behavior. Constant monitoring of social media , or even our location. I know that's very popular. So just to remember that healthy relationships , um , will make you feel respected , supported and safe. We talked about safety a lot. Um , and if a relationship , if the relationship is causing you fear or pressure or control , that's a sign that something is not right.
S6: A major part of high school. The game is decision making. The choices players make affect their happiness throughout the game , just like the choices teenagers make in real life.
S1: Hi , my name is Melanie Diaz. Sarah said and I maintain your sold. Hi , my name is Nyla Angulo and I'm a senior at Century Union High School. All right. So first starting up about decision making , right. So we're we're teenagers. So we are. So this affects us. Right. And so in the game the with the first stop sign that a person reaches is the decision if they want to have good or bad friends , if they make good friends then they make good decisions. Bad friends are more likely to make bad decisions. So that's a choice that the player is is going to make. And so they're going to say , okay , what what do I want to do with my life. Right. What who are the people who are going to associate myself with. And so that's something that's really important. So what do you guys think about , um , I think that most of us would like to go to like , the good decision , um , role where we have , like , friends that make good decisions. But at the end we know we never know the people or your friends. Like , really. Well , that that the people you think that are making good decisions and also like making bad decisions at the end. Yeah , like I'm sure like.
S5: We've all seen.
S1: We all know someone. We've all seen someone who is unfortunately or fortunately depends on the person pregnant. Yeah. And I feel it's very , very impactful thing to see because we're in high school we're developing were undergoing these personality changes these new like everything's during high school you know , and to see someone like have like become pregnant , like have this like milestone in their lives at such a young age. It's really impactful. And they have to grow up sooner because they have it's like it apprentices them like immediately. Like they're already like they're already have to become an adult already. Yeah. Because they're adult decision for me. Like the bad decision in the high school game would be the the drug use. Yeah. Because me as a friend , I really wouldn't like nobody to do what now and days is like really common. It's the the electric. Um , what is it called? The vaping. Yeah. So I wouldn't like that. And right now , with the friend that I'm not her friend anymore , it's kind of sad because I feel like the group that she's going into really does those things. And I wouldn't like her. I wouldn't like that to happen to any of my friends. I get addicted just because you wanted to , like , look cool with other people instead of like , being conscious about your health and things like that. Yeah , I agree and definitely like with taking the time also to just to recognize those problems that people are having and facing and so and understanding like that does affect their mental health and that affects their whole life , all those decisions that they make and sometimes and a lot of times they regret the decisions that they make. And we a lot of as a society , we kind of like put all this hate on them. Like , how could you do that? Why would you do that? Like for example , the drugs , like , why would you do that? That's so stupid. Why would you start taking drugs? But then you have to feel that sympathy for the person and say like , okay , what if they do want to change and now they want to get better? It is possible to get better , and it is possible to to change the direction of your life.
S2: For students , the game reflected experiences they recognised immediately , but adults also saw something important in it. Conversations that teenagers don't always feel comfortable having.
S1: So what would you say was your first impression of the game? Sara , I'm.
S5: Going to be honest with you. When I walked into your advisory class and it was right after an assessment day. That day I remember that morning we had had an assessment across school , and you were in your advisory class , and it was really exciting to see all of the students working on hands on activities and engaging with each other. And when I walked over to your group and I saw you guys working are playing this game , I was intrigued. First I was like , what's this? It's a board game. I've never seen it and I love board games. I really believe board games is is a great way to keep your family together. It's a it's a great way to to engage everyone as you're gathering as family. And what I encountered in that advisory class was a group of our students having conversations. And as they were playing a game , and I had never seen it. So when I asked what this was and you said , oh , it's high school , the game , I created it. I'm thinking like , oh my God , how do I get one? That was my first thing is like , how do I get one? Because I would love to have this at home and play with my own children. When I saw you with , with your friends and and playing the board game at one of the first questions. I don't know if you remember , but I was like , how do you win? How do you win at this game? And when you said to me , well , the first to graduate and the most happiest , I think one of the most important things that we have to remember is that and I truly believe this , Sarah. And I think this is what you that what you kept captured in this game is our goal is to have students come through our school and we only have four years. That's it. We have four years to ensure that all of our students that come in , come into our school system and get the best experience that they can. They graduate , but you hit it on the nail that they're happy , that they're the happiest.
S6: High school. The game was created from real experiences , struggles , pressure , relationships , and the search for happiness.
S2: But more than anything , it became a way to start conversations that students often keep to themselves.
S6: Because behind every decision , every bad day , every moment.
S2: There's a story.
S6: And sometimes all it takes to start that conversation.
S2: Is a. Game.
S3: Game.
S6: To press the button. Hosted by Sarah , Abigail , Vera and Edison. Edited and produced by Doctor Thomas Taki. Episode music by Smart and Sound Productions. Credits. Music by Emmanuel Twillie. Technical and operational support provided by KPBS. Technical producer sound designer Adrian Villalobos , KPBS audio operations assistant Rebecca Chacon , and KPBS Director of audio Programming and Operations Lisa Jane Morrison. This programming is partially made possible in part by the KPBS Explore Content Fund.
