Paper Tigers: A Story of Resilience

Paper Tigers is one of my favorite documentaries. Taking place at Lincoln Alternative High School in Walla Walla, Washington, Paper Tigers shows what a school can accomplish through the use of trauma-informed practices. Using the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study as a framework, the adults at Lincoln are able to demonstrate that having one caring, dependable adult can change a young person’s life. Care is the verb that puts resilience into action, because caring is what allows us to help others become resilient in the face of trauma.

Not only is the documentary inspiring, but it felt extremely significant in the ways it resembled my own experiences. While I struggled with mental illness, my home life was relatively stable. I had a good relationship with my family, I got good grades and was a member of the Honor Society. But this wasn't the case for a lot of my friends. Many of my friends would come to school high, and a few were kicked out of school due to possession. Some of my friends came from homes that were not as safe as they should have been, and many of our families struggled with money. Mental illnesses were common among our friend group, part of an attempt to be around people who understand. But understanding is not the same as being able to fix the problem, something that teenagers need adult help to deal with. We bonded through activities like skateboarding and a shared love of music, but also due to a mutual pain that we all faced, often silently, showing itself during late night text messages.

We're lucky that we graduated high school. We're lucky we all made it out alive.

I'm happy to say that my friends and I are in much better places today. But getting here was hard. When I first watched Paper Tigers, I had already applied to become a City Year Americorps member, to go into a school and work with young people. But watching this documentary and seeing the similarities in my own life made me even more confident in my plans. I want to be the adult I needed when I was younger, that my friends needed. I want to be able to show others how much I care. I want to help them become resilient.