Sarah, a 15-year-old high school student known for being responsible, finds herself at a party with her best friend Lila and a new group of friends who pressure her to vape. Lila, who has started experimenting with vaping and marijuana, urges Sarah to join in, calling her a “buzzkill” for hesitating. Surrounded by peers and feeling the weight of their judgment, Sarah is torn between wanting to fit in and her own values, including her parents' trust in her to make smart decisions. As the group waits for her to act, Sarah holds the vape in her hand, unsure of what to do.
Luis’s Expectations (*Sensitive)
Luis, a 16-year-old first-generation immigrant, is under immense pressure from his parents, who sacrificed everything for him to succeed in the U.S. They expect him to excel in school, maintain straight A's, and be a role model for his siblings, while also juggling varsity soccer and a part-time job to help with family expenses. When he gets a D on a history exam, his parents are disappointed, grounding him and reminding him of their sacrifices. Luis is exhausted, anxious, and struggling to balance everything, feeling torn between meeting his parents' high expectations and protecting his own mental health. Should he continue pushing himself to meet their standards, or confront them about how overwhelmed he feels, risking their disappointment?
Liam's Balancing Act
Liam, a 17-year-old high school junior, is torn between his academic goals, basketball commitments, part-time job, and social life. With a major history paper due, extra basketball practices for the state semifinals, and pressure to join his friends on a weekend camping trip, he’s struggling to balance it all. His parents push him to prioritize academics and sports, but Liam is feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, and unsure if he's sacrificing too much. He must decide whether to focus on schoolwork, support his team, or take a break and enjoy time with his friends, knowing each choice has significant consequences.
The Pressure of Choosing a Major
Emily, a high school senior, feels overwhelmed by the pressure to choose a college major while most of her friends seem certain about their futures. She enjoys various activities but lacks a passion for any specific subject, leaving her unsure of what career path to pursue. Her parents encourage her to pick a practical major like business or computer science, while her counselor suggests a gap year, an idea her parents oppose. Emily feels torn between choosing a "safe" major, taking a risk on something she might enjoy, or delaying her decision altogether, fearing that making the wrong choice could impact her future.
Should I Stay or Should I Go?
Maria, a 19-year-old sophomore and the first in her family to attend college, feels overwhelmed by academic pressure, financial strain, and uncertainty about her future. She’s considering dropping out or taking a year off to work and explore career options but fears disappointing her family, especially her proud mom. Though she’s seen others online benefit from taking time off, Maria worries about never returning to school or falling behind her peers. Caught between staying in school and risking burnout or taking a break and facing uncertainty, Maria feels torn about her next step. Should she stay in college or take a year off?
Deciding Between Colleges
Sophia, a high school senior, is torn between two very different college options: Ridgeview University, a large, prestigious school her parents favor for its career opportunities, and Greenfield College, a smaller liberal arts school where she feels she would thrive in a close-knit, supportive environment. While Sophia’s parents push her toward Ridgeview and even threaten to withhold financial support if she chooses otherwise, she’s drawn to Greenfield’s scholarship offer and the chance for a more personalized education. As decision day approaches, Sophia faces a difficult choice between following her parents' wishes for stability and prestige or pursuing her own vision of a fulfilling college experience at Greenfield.
Sona's Dilemma: Encountering Racism (*Sensitive)
Sona is an exchange student from India studying for one semester at a private university in Australia. She has been assigned to work with a group of her classmates on a project with which she is not completely familiar. The group of students who are all from Australia have worked with each other before. They are also working with a person from India for the first time. Being in a new environment, Sona is a little shy in participating in the group and despite being a good student is usually quiet in group discussions. A few weeks later, when Sona shares her reflection in the group, her teammates make comments about how good her English is ‘for an Indian’. This is not the first time that Sona has experienced passive racism. There has been more than one incident where Sona’s teammates have made comments about her culture or have cast her in a stereotypical mould. Sona feels uncomfortable and hurt by these incidents.
To Tell, or Not To Tell? When Friends Break Rules
Jonah is a rising college senior during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although remote learning procedures were implemented, the college eventually decided to allow only the senior class back to campus for their final year. This decision came with strict health and safety protocols. Jonah was concerned about the potential risk of returning but was reassured by his friends that they all intended to be safe. Unfortunately, “safe” had different connotations for his friends than for Jonah. Soon after returning to campus, Jonah witnessed his friends flaunting the college’s guidelines. Jonah began to pull away from his friends, whose behavior he saw as increasingly negligent. Concerned for his own health as well as the safety of others in the community, Jonah felt torn about whether to report his friends’ behavior to the school or maintain his loyalty by keeping quiet.
Speaking Up, or Staying Silent?
Lisa is a first-year college student during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her college has decided to remain open for students. Though quite shy herself, Lisa is happy to be assigned a very sociable roommate also within her major. Lisa takes her studies--and the school’s strict honor code--seriously. Unfortunately, Lisa’s friendly roommate, Eva, does not share the same academic integrity. After noticing Eva looking up answers online during a remote exam, Lisa is distraught. Because of her timidness in making new connections, Lisa feels dependent upon Eva to introduce her to new friends and build her social community at the school. At the same time, the policy regarding remote learning explicitly prohibits online searches during exams. Should Lisa report Eva to her professors, or turn a blind eye to blatant disregard for academic honesty?
The Admissions Dilemma
Alex was recently accepted to a prestigious college and joined a private online group made up of other accepted students. In the group, students were exchanging inappropriate jokes. Some jokes were hateful towards certain groups of people. Alex was taken aback by what the other students were sharing, but also unsure of what college would be like and anxious to make new friends. After reading some of the other students’ posts, Alex contributed a joke that mocked a minoritized group. A few weeks later, the college's admissions team learned about the online group and decided to take back admissions offers from students who contributed hateful content, including Alex. Alex was no longer welcome to attend the university.
Camera Shy (*Sensitive)
Julie is a junior in high school who is very committed to theater. Julie, like many of her friends, is self-conscious about her appearance. She has noticed that one friend in particular is struggling with an eating disorder, which concerns Julie. When Julie served as a counselor at an all-girls summer camp, she was struck by how comfortable all of the campers looked in the photos. It sort of “hit” her that she had not seen pictures of herself or her friends looking un-self-conscious in a long time, and she says she is sick of feeling insecure and watching her friends struggle with the same issues. Her experience at the camp helped her to realize that she wants to use theater to help young women be successful and to feel empowered.
The Right To Say No (*Sensitive)
Sophia is eighteen years old and about to graduate from a high school for the performing arts. Sophia has always loved performing, but theater became a deep passion for her during her high school career. However, a couple years ago, she encountered a difficult situation related to her chosen line of work. Because her parents do not subsidize her acting, Sophia wanted a paying acting job. After mailing out her headshots and resumes, she eventually landed a role in an independent film that she did not know much about. As part of her role in the film, Sophia was asked to do something sexual that made her very uncomfortable, and that she felt was wrong; however, she did not know what the consequences of saying “no” would be. For two years after this experience, Sophia stopped looking for any acting work outside of school.
Getting a Story, or Crossing a Line?
Rosa is a young journalist. One typical workday, a few months into her position, Rosa was instructed by Jeremy to go and “stake out” the home of a family whose child had, a few hours beforehand, been injured in a collision with an automobile while riding a bicycle. Rosa faced a dilemma. On the one hand, she felt that, as a reporter, it was sometimes her job to report tough or tragic stories, and that she needed to uphold expectations as a journalist for The Daily by trying to get all the information she could. On the other hand, she felt that she would be “crossing a line” to try to get a family statement immediately after they had been notified of the child’s death, likely their “worst nightmare.”
All The World’s A Stage
Gwen is a senior at a performing arts high school, where she studies drama. As a senior, she faces a difficult decision. Gwen is eighteen, which means she’s old enough to work, but she has also been accepted to the drama program at one of her top-choice schools. Should she enroll in college and continue to learn the art of theater? Or should she start acting professionally, learn from real-life experiences, and draw on the many connections she currently has? To complicate matters even more, Gwen’s parents are not in a financial position to cover all of the expenses of her education, and she has not been offered a scholarship anywhere. If she chooses to continue her education, it will clearly involve a great deal of expense.
Drama with Bullies
Nick is a high school senior who is deeply committed to acting. Nick explains that drama is not the cool thing to do at his high school, and students who do drama are one of a few groups who are regular targets for bullying. Nick faced a particularly difficult situation when he and a friend were cast in a musical production. Nick was looking forward to improving his singing and dancing skills. However, some of the other students, who had frequently bullied the drama club members in the past, came to the rehearsal and started recording it without Nick’s consent. Nick was unsure whether or how to confront the bullies, who were making him uncomfortable.
Honest to Goodness
Karen is a young newspaper reporter. As an entry-level journalist, her primary source of competition comes from summer interns who are recruited from undergraduate journalism programs. Karen believes that competition is “good for the soul,” and some of her best work has been produced in response to the competitive atmosphere and her reluctance to be outdone by the interns. However, this competitiveness has a downside: Karen believes that “the cardinal rule of journalism is truth-telling,” yet her desire to provide readers with important information has at times led her to use dishonest means to get stories. For instance, she has misrepresented herself in order to get interviews. She says that “there are times for dishonest tactics” if these tactics are in the service of telling the truth in a story.
Silence Isn’t Always Golden
Emma is graduating from high school this year, and has just sent in her acceptance letter to attend college. She is an aspiring scientist, and she is extremely dedicated to her work; however, she also feels very committed to her friendships. The sense of responsibility that she feels toward her friends was tested during her senior year when her friends got into serious trouble for hacking into the high school computer system. Emma knew what her friends were doing, and she never said or did anything about it because she didn’t want to “rat” on them. As a scientist, Emma also feels strongly that withholding information can have disastrous effects, and she feels that it “violates the entire reason for doing research.” Emma seems to have different standards for her personal life and “professional” work.
Marketing Me (*Sensitive)
Heather is twenty-two and a senior theater student. In her senior year as an undergraduate, she is struggling with messages she gets from teachers about how she should try to market herself in what she is “best at.” Heather says that she doesn’t want to be “pigeonholed,” or not win a particular role because she does not look a certain way. She struggles with issues of body image and questions whether she is “pretty enough” to be successful. Although she does not rule out the option of plastic surgery, she struggles with the idea that a change in physical appearance can make someone more or less appealing and more or less qualified for a role. She would like decisions to be based on skill and talent.
Acting Out
Rob is a seventeen-year-old high school actor. Rob’s father is very opposed to Rob’s interest in theater, and several years ago tried to redirect him toward activities that are more conventional for boys in their town. A year ago, Rob’s father told him that he could no longer be involved in theater at all. For six months, Rob avoided all theater activities, and sank into a deep depression. Finally, he ended this hiatus (against his father’s wishes), and was cast in a high school production. Despite his father’s opposition, Rob has sustained his passion for theater, and has decided to major in musical theater at a conservatory program.
To Print or Not To Print (*Sensitive)
Debbie is a high school senior and the editor of her school newspaper, The Gazette. Debbie takes her position at The Gazette very seriously. Her goal as Editor is to balance the paper’s content for the broad audience of students, faculty, alumni, and parents, which can prove challenging. Recently, during an open meeting for admitted students, a student accused the administration of ignoring rapes on campus, and these allegations began to circulate across the country. Debbie had to decide whether The Gazette would print a story covering the incident. While these allegations were an important story, she knew that as soon as anything about the incident appeared in the school newspaper, it would spread farther and could potentially be damaging to the school.