COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KOAA) — Most high school students don’t get to see their story on screen, let alone have it broadcast to thousands. But thanks to one Colorado Springs program, some teens are learning to share the parts of their lives that others never talk about.
For Dulcinea Harrison, a junior at The Haven School in Security-Widefield, that meant telling the truth about her past.
“I always thought when I was in school and being bullied that being Black in a white family was a bad thing,” said Harrison.
Harrison was born in Ethiopia and diagnosed with hydrocephalus, a condition where fluid builds up in the brain. Doctors in her home country considered a dangerous procedure that could have killed her as an infant.
“Back in my home country they were going to drill a hole through my head to drain the excess fluid, and as a 10-month-old baby, that would have killed me,” she recalled.
Her biological parents left her on the steps of a church. Thousands of miles away, a Colorado couple felt called to adopt her, despite warnings from doctors that she might not survive.
“It didn’t matter what surgeries you’d have to have or what therapies or how long we had, we just knew it was going to be okay because you were ours,” said Harrison's mother.
Growing up, Harrison faced bullying for her race, her disability and for simply being different. By fifth grade, she said the pain had become overwhelming.
“By the end of that year, I was like, 'okay, I don’t want to be here anymore.' So, I wrote the suicide notes,” she said.
Everything changed when she discovered the Youth Documentary Academy (YDA). Through YDA, she learned how to turn painful moments into a message, one that could reach others who felt alone.
“I knew that if I was feeling like that, I knew somebody else out there had to be feeling like that,” said Harrison.
Each summer, YDA selects 12 students to learn filmmaking and share real-life stories. Tom Shepard, the academy’s executive director, said their films often address topics that are rarely discussed among teens.
“When I was the age of my students, people didn’t talk about many of these issues,” said Shepard. “Our students are really willing to go in there and break (the) silence. The films open the door to really courageous conversations.”
Founded in 2014, YDA provides professional mentorship, industry-standard equipment, and in-depth training in storytelling and production. Shepard said about 80% of students have never held a camera before joining.
“Politicians don’t really pay much attention to young people,” said Shepard. “They’re really dismissed. But, they have strong perspectives about what’s going on around them. We want to give them the skills to share that.”
Harrison’s documentary, ‘I Choose You,’ premiered in 2023, earning her awards, scholarships, and a spot on PBS. But for her, the real reward was connection.
“I was able to talk about myself more freely,” she said. “Those parts that you want to keep hidden… I was able to leave them out in the open, so now people aren’t ashamed to ask me if I was adopted.”
Now, Harrison says she wants to become a filmmaker, using her voice to help others feel seen.
“That’s what I’m pushing for, open-mindedness, not to judge people from the first thing you see,” she said.
Shepard said applications for the Youth Documentary Academy’s next summer program are now open. Students can apply online through January with interviews held in April.
For more on YDA’s programs or to apply, click here.
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