Have you ever talked about real world problems with your friends during school? Problems such as gender dysphoria, depression, poverty, immigration, same-sex marriage, and bioethics. Maybe you have, but you may have never thought to make a solution for those problems. That’s what SLI is for! SLI, which stands for Student Leadership Institute, is a club that middle school students and upper class students can participate in.

Senior Benjamin Bower talks about his experience in SLI, “It is very interesting to hear a diverse range of perspectives.”

Once you join, you keep wanting to do it the next year, and the next, but what gets students to join in the first place?

Junior Soyun Lee talks about the reason she joined SLI, “I am really looking forward to learning about leadership skills, and in the end becoming a leader myself.”

Soyun Lee was impressed with the topics her friends learned during their first years of highschool, but underclassmen do not have people around them who can talk about their experience in SLI. So what gets underclassmen to get started?

Sophomore Rachel DenBraber talks about what she is most excited about for SLI, “I am interested in talking and learning about different topics that normally would not be discussed.”

To dig in even deeper into the why students join, freshman Aubrey Acker says, “I am super excited to be able to write down my testimony, and to talk about different topics.”

SLI is a safe space for all students who want to discuss topics they normally would shy away from or feel uncomfortable talking about. The main purpose is to widen our understanding of the world around us, and to go through the process of arguing with others. SLI is an experience you can have only once in highschool, so join yourself and get your friends to join you.