On Thursday, November 5, 2026, five high school students stood at a podium and shared their personal stories with a room full of people who came to listen. Here is what happened at the 8th annual LISTEN event.
Journey Bledsoe, the evening’s final speaker, faces a full room.
Back at the podium
Mariyah Williams knows that podium well. She once stood behind it as a LISTEN Scholarship recipient. On Thursday, she returned as the evening’s host: a LISTEN alumna, a member of PLUS ME’s inaugural Youth Advisory Council, and a freshman at UCLA.
“It is an extraordinary full-circle moment to return as a LISTEN alumna and help welcome five remarkable young people into a community that once welcomed and uplifted me.”
LISTEN alumna Mariyah Williams returned to host the evening.
This year, just under 300 students applied by writing their stories with the PLUS ME elements of story: characters, settings, events, lessons, and future. Applicants and their families came to the LISTEN Link Up at the PLUS ME Storytelling Center. Students joined workshops and heard from a panel of college students, and parents and guardians had a workshop of their own. Then volunteers and PLUS ME staff read and scored every story.
PLUS ME has awarded 52 My Story Matters scholarships since 2020. This event’s five made it 57.
Five stories
Aria Mehta, a freshman at South Pasadena High School, spoke about a sport that did not come easily to her. She made the varsity tennis team this year.
“Our struggles do not have to disappear for something meaningful to come from them.”
Charles Onuigbo, a senior at Dr. Richard A. Vladovic Harbor Teacher Preparation Academy, spoke about a nickname that started on the basketball court and followed him into the classroom. Reading about it on his own changed how he saw himself.
“Now, instead of trying to make myself less visible, I am choosing to be seen.”
Aileen Mendez, a senior at Oscar De La Hoya Ánimo Charter High School, spoke about what her parents’ hard work means to her as a student.
“I don’t chase perfection. I chase proof that every hardship my mom and dad endured opened a door.”
Kha’Rell McDuffie, a senior at Leuzinger High School, started cutting hair at fifteen and built his client base by telling everyone at school about his services. He went on to found a club where teens talk openly about mental health.
“I didn’t want my craft to just be a one stop shop. I wanted to make it a safe space and a place where my clients felt heard, seen and prized.”
And Journey Bledsoe, a junior at Northview High School, spoke about the people and places that raised her, including an uncle who always opened the door. She plans to become a pediatric oncology nurse.
“The places I grew up in shaped me, but they do not define the limits of my story.”
PLUS ME Founder and Executive Director Richard Reyes then called all five students back to the stage to receive their scholarships.
Charles, Kha’Rell, Aileen, Journey, and Aria with host Mariyah Williams.
Hope
In PLUS ME workshops, facilitators and students debrief through a “pair and share,” so Development Manager Morgan Chitty had guests try one. Each person told the person next to them what resonated. Then she opened the floor, and guests took the mic to speak to the students directly.
Mariyah had the last word.
“Storytelling reminds us that we are not merely the subjects of conversations about our futures, but the authors of them.”
Thank you to Jawaan Wallace and Marlborough School, and to our LISTEN sponsors: Cobalt and Clay, Diana Ishak and Microsoft, Pop Up Storytelling for Organizations, Life reDefined by Ritika Rose, Levain, and Jeni’s Ice Cream.
