Sense of Belonging Prep Questions

Who are you? Briefly introduce yourself and your passions

My name is Hudeyfi Mahamud, and I’m a senior at Eden Prairie High School. I’ve been involved in student leadership, especially through MSA, the Muslim Student Association, where as president I’ve helped organize events and create spaces for students to come together. Outside of school, I’m interested in computer science, fitness, and personal growth. But one passion that connects a lot of what I do is community, understanding how students build relationships, find their place, and feel genuinely welcomed. As a Somali Muslim student, I’ve also seen how important it is for students to feel understood, not just included.

If you could design a school (or a classroom) for maximum belonging, what would that look like to you? How would you need adults to show up in the space to make it possible?

If I could design a classroom for maximum belonging, I think it would be a space where students get comfortable with each other naturally, not in a forced way. In my experience, one of the best examples was an English class I had where my teacher would start class with simple fun questions, like where you would want to travel or something like that. It was small, but it made the room feel more open, and people who usually wouldn’t talk started warming up.

I think that matters because some students, especially quieter students, don’t always want to be isolated, they just don’t know how to jump into groups that already exist. So adults can help by creating routines where students interact in a low-pressure way before the real classwork starts. To me, belonging is built when connection feels natural, not awkward or forced.

Being a teenager in 2026 is challenging for so many reasons, and the last few years since the pandemic have been especially hard. How can adults best support you? 

I think adults can best support us by realizing that a lot of students are dealing with more than they show. Especially after the pandemic, I feel like a lot of students got more isolated, more attached to their phones, and maybe less comfortable socially. So sometimes when a student is quiet or disconnected, it doesn’t always mean they don’t care. They might just be overwhelmed or not know how to open up yet.

In my experience, the adults who helped the most were the ones who were consistent and made the space feel normal to talk in. Not forcing students to share deep things right away, but checking in, building trust, and creating a classroom or activity where students feel comfortable over time. I think adults support us best when they are patient, intentional, and actually pay attention to the students who might not always speak up.

You’re in a room of people who are in charge of district and school communications (like on social media, district and school websites, emergency communications and newsletters). Is there a way you’d like students to be represented in communications that you don’t see now? 

I think students should be shown in a more real way. A lot of school posts show the big stuff, awards, sports wins, big events, and polished moments. That’s good, but sometimes it doesn’t show the everyday parts of school where belonging actually happens.

From my experience with MSA and leadership, some of the best moments are smaller, students setting up an event together, having real conversations, helping each other out, or just feeling comfortable in a space. I think if school communication showed more of those real moments, more students could see themselves and feel like, ‘Okay, there’s a place for me here too.

Can you give an example of something that happens in your school or district right now that helps you feel a strong sense of inclusion and belonging?

One thing that helps me feel belonging at EPHS is being part of MSA and student leadership spaces. With MSA, it’s not just a club meeting where people sit and listen. The best moments are when students are setting up together, greeting people at the door, organizing food, joking around before the event starts, and then seeing a room full of students who share similar values or experiences.

For me, that creates belonging because it doesn’t feel forced. It feels like students are building the space together. Even if someone comes in quiet, once they see people welcoming them and the room feels warm, it becomes easier for them to open up.

What’s a time when you did not feel a sense of belonging in a space?

One time I didn’t feel a strong sense of belonging was freshman year when I transferred into a math class a couple weeks late. By then, people already had their seats, their tables, and their little groups. I remember coming in and feeling like everyone already had their place, and I was just kind of trying to figure out where I fit.

It wasn’t that people were mean. It was more that the room made it easy to stay by yourself. That taught me that belonging isn’t always about someone being directly excluded. Sometimes it’s just about whether the space gives you a natural way to enter

Is there a way marketing and communications can make students feel they belong in their school, district and community?

Yes, I think communication can help students belong when it shows them that they’re actually seen. Not just the same types of students or the biggest achievements, but different cultures, clubs, personalities, and everyday moments around the school.

For example, if a quiet student, a Muslim student, or a student who’s not in the biggest activities sees people like them represented in a real way, it sends a message that they’re part of the school too. Communication can’t create belonging by itself, but it can make students feel visible — and that matters.