“Stepping outside my comfort zone.”

“Expressing emotions and vulnerability.”

“To reflect on myself and who I am.”

These were just some of the sentiments echoed by student participants after the return of Breaking Down the Walls (BDTW) to Burlingame. Hosted by Ignite 2 Unite, this four-day community bonding event occurred at the Burlingame Recreation Center for underclassmen and new upperclassmen to cultivate a supportive culture within the student body. 

From Sept. 23 to 27, BDTW presenter Freddie Silvera led four different groups of roughly 200 underclassman and transfer students.They were guided by upperclassman student leaders through both smaller breakout sessions and large group activities, all based on a “play, trust, learn” model.

“It’s all set up on this design [of]play trust, learn. If we can play a little bit, we can begin to trust people, some people that we may or may not even know, and then we can start to learn something about them,” Silvera said.

Throughout the day, Silvera said he aimed to foster a trusting and confidential environment, starting with forming an inner and outer circle for students to get to know one another established through their personal childhood experiences and daily routines. 

“What I love is just creating a safe space for people to meet new [students] and connect and have fun. It’s cool to see kids in the morning totally shift as the day goes on and months later, about how people have felt a shift on campus,” Silvera said.

BDTW participant and freshman Zeina Badran highlights the value of embracing vulnerability and expressing emotions to better connect to her peers. 

“When I walked out of there, I felt like I had a new, open mindset to not judge people based on rumors and my own perceptions because they could be going through really tough situations,” Badran said. “Even some of my closest friends that I thought I knew well — I didn’t know they were going through difficult times as well.”

On Monday Sept. 23rd, student leaders were required to attend a training workshop, where they learned a specific schedule to go through with their groups to foster relationships with new people in the community. Junior Emma Shi, who had attended BDTW as a freshman, was one of these student leaders who felt inspired to take on a leadership role to give back to her community and allow underclassmen to understand the importance of this event. 

“It was really fun to see how the group of students I led slowly opened up more throughout the day, especially as we got into more sensitive topics that were hard to discuss,” Shi said. “I could see a lot of them starting to understand why [BDTW] was so valuable and the students becoming more engaged with the activities.”

The influence of these student leaders not only opened more doors for expressing emotions and vulnerabilities during BDTW, but also inspired underclassmen like Badran to take up the student leadership role when she becomes an upperclassmen. 

“I want to help future freshmen experience what I did this year,” Badran said. “This was so impactful and important, and I noticed that the student leaders were also very helpful by sharing her own personal experiences and thoughts even when people [felt hesitant] to talk when we were asked deeper questions.” 

For Shi, pushing  students to understand the value behind opportunities like BDTW is crucial for a more united school community. 

“I think students should really consider how enjoying [BDTW] can allow for some really great connections and conversations where you get to meet people that you otherwise wouldn’t never have been able to meet,” Shi said. “I remember when I was a freshman and seeing how [BDTW] really allowed me to be more open and myself for the rest of high school.”