Inside the convention center in Tampa, Florida, more than 1,000 high schoolers flood through the doors. In one room, students hold notecards in shaky hands, standing up before a crowd of their peers and coming out as LGBT. Outside, Black and Latino affinity groups chant in unison, filling the hallways with proud, empowered voices.

At SDLC, the Student Diversity Leadership Conference, this is just one of many ways young people come together to think about diversity in a different lens.

SDLC is a multiracial, multicultural gathering of high school leaders from around the nation. Participants come together to examine social issues, develop cross-cultural communication skills, practice self expression, and learn strategies for promoting diversity and inclusion. The conference encourage students to take the principles they develop back to their school communities.

Over two days of intense training, hundreds of students of different ages meet to discuss and share their experiences. The workshops address important issues such as social identity and inequalities in today’s high schools as well as the around the world. In affinity groups, divided into groups for each racial identity or sexual orientation, students can bond to share their experiences and foster a feeling of pride, understanding and empowerment in their own identity.

“I thought I knew who I was and what I wanted to do,” says senior Maru Sefami. “After that experience I feel like I have so much room to grow and so much left to learn, and I want to bring that back to Sage so that other people can learn who they are as well.”

SDLC unveils social stereotypes and judgement at the deepest levels, allowing students to understand societal inequality that exists in their world and even in themselves. Seeing other cultures and experiences, as well as exploring privilege, gives students the means to perceive the world in an enlightened way.

“Not only is it important to educate on the topic of diversity, but I think we also need to remember the L in SDLC, leadership. That means helping others step up to the plate and give them the necessary tools to lead conversations on social justice,” says Junior Andrea Flores. The message of social justice is one the SAME students at Sage Hill hope to bring back to the community.
For the students who attended SDLC, it means taking the lessons they learned and utilizing them in an attempt to make Sage Hill a more diverse and inclusive community.