{"id":9775,"date":"2024-06-02T22:44:07","date_gmt":"2024-06-02T22:44:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/?p=9775"},"modified":"2024-06-02T22:44:29","modified_gmt":"2024-06-02T22:44:29","slug":"student-spotlight-noelle-saldana-form-v-and-the-teen-race-for-depression","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/2024\/06\/student-spotlight-noelle-saldana-form-v-and-the-teen-race-for-depression\/","title":{"rendered":"Student Spotlight: Noelle Saldana (Form V) and the Teen Race For Depression"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On May 19, 2024, Noelle Saldana and a group of fellow teenagers assisted in hosting a 5k race at Pier 76 in Hudson River Park. The Teen Race of Hope is an annual event, hosted by the Hope for Depression Research Foundation (HDRF), dedicated to educating teens about depression and treatment, fighting the stigma still surrounding mental health, fundraising for advanced research on depression, and more generally reinforcing a sense of community. \u201cOur goal is to build a welcoming community for teens to learn about depression and raise funds for depression research,\u201d explains Saldana. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI got involved with the Hope for Depression Research Organization during my sophomore year in high school,\u201d recalls Saldana. \u201cI heard about the organization from a friend at Marymount School, and I was interested because the Teen Ambassador program felt like the perfect setting to share my thoughts on depression in teenagers and engage in conversations with like-minded people.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year\u2019s race saw exciting collaborations with TalkSpace, offering free online therapy for teens, and Scott\u2019s Protein Balls, providing pre-race nutrition. The opening ceremony, hosted by Savannah Sellers, an anchor on NBC and Morning News Now, featured inspiring speeches from Saldana and her co-lead ambassador, Hayden Lucas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The success of the Teen Race of Hope was a testament to the dedication and hard work of the Teen Ambassadors. \u201cOur ambassadors raised over $20,000 for depression research,\u201d Saldana proudly shares. For her, the most impactful aspect of the event was the supportive community it provided for teens facing depression, allowing them to connect with others who understood their struggles.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Source: Noella Saldana<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Saldana encourages students unable to participate in the race to get involved in other ways. \u201cJoin the mental health club at school!\u201d she advises. \u201cStudents can use this club to advocate for mental health awareness around school and share personal stories about anxiety and loneliness.\u201d She also emphasizes the importance of spreading the word on social media platforms. \u201cFollow @hope_hdrf<\/a> on Instagram,\u201d she suggests, adding that people can even donate to the cause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saldana\u2019s journey has not only been personally transformative but has also had a profound impact on the lives of countless teens and their families. Through her advocacy work and the Teen Race of Hope, she hopes to create a world where mental health is prioritized, and no one has to face their struggles alone. \u201cSeeing everything come together is like a dream,\u201d she reflects, \u201cand seeing how happy people are during the Race inspires so many people.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On May 19, 2024, Noelle Saldana and a group of fellow teenagers assisted in hosting a 5k race at Pier 76 in Hudson River Park. The Teen Race of Hope is an annual event, hosted by the Hope for Depression Research Foundation (HDRF), dedicated to educating teens about depression and treatment, fighting the stigma still surrounding mental health, fundraising for advanced research on depression, and more generally reinforcing a sense of community. \u201cOur goal is<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":301,"featured_media":9776,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[347,322,437,318,317,441],"tags":[],"coauthors":[605],"class_list":["post-9775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-featured","category-health","category-news","category-sports","category-world"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Screenshot-2024-06-02-at-6.41.46-PM-e1717368212620.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/301"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9775"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9775\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9777,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9775\/revisions\/9777"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9776"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9775"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=9775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}