Our student Rehan Mefta, age 18, was recently commissioned to write and perform an original poem for Spark SF Public Schools’ annual event, aligned with the Superintendent’s 21st Century Scholarship Award Ceremony. Her piece reflects on how education breaks barriers.
Rehan participated in 826 Valencia’s Young Authors’ Workshop, where she found the encouragement and the tools to explore flash fiction, storytelling, and the poetry that has become her signature. Her performance is a testament to the confidence our students build when they tell their stories on Every Page and Every Stage. Check out Rehan’s interview here!
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“Unbreakable”
by Rehan Meftah, age 18
Let me tell you
education isn’t just a title, but a journey
where we learn, grow, and thrive in our communities,
we learn together to achieve and accomplish
to break barriers and stereotypes
We are our own seeds where
We flourish beyond the surface,
Like bamboo
Hard to break down.
Coming from a land,
where education isn’t strong enough
Like dandelions,
Whose petals have flown away
Like their dreams
I carry the title of a first-generation student,
Where my parents’ sacrifices fuel my determination
While observing the path for my education
But to show them their sacrifices were not in vain
While their dreams live through my journey
My teachers are the sun,
They lit my pathway
To see other bamboo flourish
They keep on reaching high
They keep on growing
Through their guidance,
I want to do the same
Where I guide through verses
I once lived as we write
and revise our own truth.
We carry more than books in our hands,
we carry resilience
and curiosity shaping our dreams,
no matter where we came from
filled with different stories,
each voice carrying a world of its own
We will still continue growing
Thriving beyond the surface
Standing tall
Unbreakable