Advot in Action

May 2024

You may have heard. The Advot Project has a new name and a new tagline. 

We are now simply Advot.

And our tagline is Your Voice is Your Power. 

I wrote several months ago about one of the quietest students that I have met in my history of teaching. Her long, black bangs covered her eyes, and she wore a face mask like armor. The Advot curriculum that we led in her high school class was going to force her to speak up and speak out. There were days when I wasn’t sure she’d be able to do it.

She often had palpable fear in her eyes– shake of her head indicating a refusal to stand up; a welling up in her eyes that showed me not to push. 

The invitation was always there for her to stand up and share.

The first little victory came during the Categories game we played, when we could suddenly hear her shout out colors loud and clear.

Then, we had a small class and she opened up about her love of horror movies.

Next, she wrote a draft of a speech, imagining her brilliant future and accepting an award, and thanked her mother.

The next week, she refused to read even one word of her draft, eyes nearly overflowing with tears.

Finally, during our final sharing, she stood up, looked directly into the audience and read:

“Thank you so much. I appreciate this award for the best independent artist.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my family and especially my mom. I thank my family because they have always been there for me when I’ve needed them, and, to my mom, for pushing me to work my hardest and to be independent.

To get here, I had to work hard and perfect my grades to make my family proud of me and, even if my parents weren’t always there during my childhood, I’m thankful for them now. 

I’ve learned that if you want anything in this life you have to work for it. That is something my mother says and I’ll always remember that.

I hope you will thank the people who helped you get to where you are now, because they believed in you.” 

When we made an oath of how we would all promise to use the communication tools we had learned, she offered that she would “be more vocal.”

As we gave out certificates to each student during our celebration, we had time to say some individual words to each. 

This is what we said about her.

“This next certificate goes to someone who slowly opened up and spoke up in class. I hope she is proud of herself because we’re so proud of you. Continue to know and understand that your voice is your power.”

Sometimes it’s difficult to decipher the impact we are making. 

In this case, this student’s journey was clear, profound, and uniquely hers. 

We can’t wait to hear how she uses her powerful voice next.

By: Annie Kee, Managing Director