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Samiaha Stroud going statewide with her passion to discuss teen mental health

Samiaha Stroud going statewide with her passion to discuss teen mental health

In the bustling hallways of Eaton High School, Samiaha Stroud stands out not just as a senior, but as a passionate advocate for mental wellness. 

“I feel like mental wellness is something that needs to be talked about more, because it is at the root of a lot of issues that schools are facing. That’s why I’m so driven and passionate. I feel like if we address mental health, we can address a lot more issues, too.”

Samiaha Stroud poses for a photo in a Wellness Ambassador shirt

Samiaha is taking her determination to foster a positive school culture beyond Northwest ISD  to a statewide platform. 

Samiaha is one of just nine Texas high school students who have been chosen to serve as the first set of Texas School Safety Teen Ambassadors, a statewide youth advisory board for the Texas School Safety Center

“It really focuses on giving us as students a voice,” Stroud said when explaining her role. “Because we're the ones that are going through everything in school, it's important for us to speak up.

“It's about fostering a community and environment for students to feel safe. If they ever need help, there are people they can go to, especially if they know that their peers are the ones speaking up for them.”

The role of the ambassador is designed to bridge the gap between students, school administrations and the community through youth-adult partnerships. Samiaha will spend the 2024-2025 school year educating both youth and adults about the dangers of drugs like vaping and fentanyl, increasing awareness about teen mental health and empowering her fellow students to build connections that matter.

 Earlier this month, she met the other eight ambassadors for an in-person orientation in San Antonio.

“We touched on a lot of different topics and met a lot of different people as we discussed teen mental health, substance abuse prevention and violence prevention,” Samiaha said of her four days in San Antonio.

“We started off with everyone talking about why they were there, then we addressed the things that are going on within our school environments that adults may not understand.”

Samiaha is also currently the vice president of Eaton High School’s Wellness Ambassadors, a group in its second year  that advocates for student needs, guides peers to helpful staff resources, and leads initiatives such as kindness campaigns, anti-bullying programs, and empowerment activities.

When Eaton’s counseling team heard that TxSCC was forming a statewide ambassador program similar to their campus program, they encouraged their campus ambassadors to apply and strive to impact more than just their campus, Northwest ISD and communities.

“When we sent out the application, Samiaha stood out because of her innate drive, her hunger to make a difference, her positivity and her passion,” said Cooper Spruill, an intervention counselor at Eaton. “We thought she would make a great candidate for the state, and I'm glad the state thought so, too.”

In addition to her work as an Eaton and state ambassador, Samiaha also works with numerous organizations outside of school, such as Mona Foundation which focuses on increasing educational opportunities and gender equality for underserved populations.

Her desire to provide an outlet for her classmates and help normalize discussions about teen mental health comes from personal experience.

“I first came in contact with mental wellness challenges as a freshman, and it was really hard because I felt like I had no one to reach out to,” Samiaha explained as she fought back tears. “When you're young, it's hard to understand that situations like mental health challenges exist, and it's hard to bring it to your own attention, much less to an adult’s attention as well.

“So when I was strong enough to come out of it, I realized this needs to be addressed. We talk about everything else, but what about the main thing that students are going through which is mental health? Our brains aren’t fully developed. This is the easiest mindset to tamper with, so why aren't we talking about it?”

Now, just three years later, Samiaha is certainly talking about it, and she’s joining forces with her peers throughout Texas to make sure their voices are coming through loud and clear.