Meet the Youth Track: Nzugu Kitenge

My name is Nzugu Kitenge and I am from Oakland California. I largely grew up in the Bay Area, but at one point my family and I moved to the Central Valley. The schools that I attended there did not have health centers or clinics. It wasn’t until I moved back to the Bay Area during my first year in high school that I found out what a school-based health center was. I was really amazed that a resource of this caliber was offered to high school students. I eventually became involved by joining a youth led research team that was supported by Alameda Family Services and USF, and through that was able to learn more of the services that were offered, as well as some of the issues that my fellow peers were going through. I truly learned about the impact a school-based health center has on a student body by being lucky enough to participate in this youth led research team. Utilizing and becoming a part of my school-based health center taught me that everyone should have the opportunity to take advantage of a health center in their school. School-Based health centers should be readily available to all youth across the state, and I will continue to advocate for them so that this mission can become a reality.