Thought Piece: Dr.Miguel Trujillo on “What Does it Mean to Belong?: Listening to Youth Voices”
By: Dr.Miguel Trujillo
Growing up in Utah, belonging was something that was at the forefront of my mind. When I was younger, I struggled to understand why I seemed to “fit in” at home or with my friends, but never really felt like I belonged at school or in my neighborhood. Sometimes, I would think I was the only person who felt like this, which led to isolation and a lack of connection with my local community.
As I have gotten older, I now have the language, knowledge, and resources to explore my past experiences and better understand what I was feeling at the time. While I have always looked at ways our education system could better support students, the concept of belonging was a new area of research. I was so excited to support this project when it was proposed by the Center for Economic Opportunity & Belonging (CEOB). I’m thankful for Zee, Bailey, and the CEOB, not only for being such wonderful partners, but for also allowing me an opportunity to learn from john a. powell, one of the national leaders on belonging, prior to this work.
Lastly, I’m so grateful for all of the time, trust, and thoughtfulness that we received from young people on this project. This research would not have happened without your participation and I hope you can see yourselves in this report. For better or worse, some of your experiences were very similar to mine growing up here in Utah. If we continue to listen more to our students, we have an opportunity to build upon their good experiences and ensure that other students like me don’t question whether they belong in school or not; they’ll know that they do.
If we continue to listen more to our students, we have an opportunity to build upon their good experiences and ensure that other students like me don’t question whether they belong in school or not; they’ll know that they do.
Read the full “What Does it Mean to Belong?: Listening to Youth Voices” report here: https://www.belonginutah.org/resources