Kaushik Muthukrishnan
11th Grade
Mission San Jose High School
Alameda County
“My poem has been a reflection of the events of this tumultuous year. More than a reflection, it entails the observations and conclusions that I have come to thanks to my time spent pondering about my future, especially with mounting academic and social pressure. I believed that it will assist in so many mental health issues we see today if people just viewed life differently. It is some advice that I wish I had known sooner because coming to terms with it helped me understand my goals in life and what I wanted out of it.”