(Mia, Alex and Anisha are sitting around inside chatting, chairs facing each other)

Mia McMenamin:
Do you guys find more pressure because of your culture and identity in high school?

(A title graphic appears on the centre of the screen that reads: BLAK AND FORTH CULTURAL PRESSURES with Anisha, Mia and Alex)

Alexander Peisley:
Yeah, 'cause, like, I was the token Black kid. I could speak. I could do, you know, all these Acknowledgment of Country's. There was a lot of Aboriginal kids had a good ATAR and I was the one that was gonna, you know, overtake their ATAR and I felt there's a lot of pressure on me to go up and have academic and that's why I felt that stress kicked in. I got this weight on my back, like, "You're gonna be the next Prime Minister." And, "You're gonna be all this." I was like, "You don't know my life, like don't put that one me." I'm very happy that I actually stood the courage up, said I'm not gonna be this token Black kid at school. Someone else took my role and I felt a lot more eased. That's the one thing that's on Black people, it's like even if it's a positive pressure or a negative pressure, it's not going away, like, we're still getting-

Anisha Damaso:
It's already hard enough.

Alexander Peisley:
Yeah, exactly.

Anisha Damaso:
Like, I'm already in Year 12, yeah.

Alexander Peisley:
Yeah.

Anisha Damaso:
Crazy. Just another layer.

Mia McMenamin:
Yeah, I kind of struggled with that sense as well. I was the token Black kid, but I was also white. I would also do, like, Acknowledgment to Country, anything ever to do with the culture, it would be like, Mia's the first one to kind of step in and do that. And sometimes I didn't want to but I almost felt like I had to. And I felt like a lot of the times, it would be like, "Oh, Mia's a drama kid." Or Mia, "Mia likes that stuff-

Alexander Peisley:
Yeah.

Mia McMenamin:
... so we'll just throw her into the deep end." And I found in Year 12, I was definitely struggling with my academics and my social life-

Anisha Damaso:
[inaudible 00:01:26].

Mia McMenamin:
... and then just on top of it, having to be the face of the Indigenous kids.
What about you?

Anisha Damaso:
There was a lot of Indigenous students at my school, a lot of, yeah, just a lot of Mob where I came from (laughs). And so I was always not the stereotypical, I guess, Black kid. I was more focused on, like, academics.
Also, because I was a tr-, I'm a Traditional Owner of the school that I, like, it's my Country. I would always do, like, the Welcome to Country's. But I really enjoyed doing that. And I think that was being in a leadership position at my, like, high school as well, um, and getting to do Welcomes, I enjoyed doing that and that sort of helped me separate that from school. It was kinda, like, compartmentalised almost. I had, like, all my Year 12 studies but then when there was an assembly and I got to, like, do something else at school, I enjoyed that and it was, yeah, yeah, everyone's different. Oh, to be young and Black.

Alexander Peisley:
Pros and cons.

Anisha Damaso:
Literally.

Mia McMenamin:
Yeah, true.