Alessia Korvessis | The Chronicle
In a school as large as Mason High School (MHS), students can struggle to find close confidantes to entrust with the personal aspects of their lives. Living in a culture often defined by high achievement and busy schedules, being vulnerable is a rare occurrence for most students. But a few groups are trying to change that by opening up to their peers.
A new connect session called Common Ground focuses on sharing personal experiences to encourage vulnerability and genuine connection among students. These meetings cover a wide variety of topics, including mental health struggles, family dynamics, identity and religion.
Founded in January 2026 by sophomore Isabella Flores, the session quickly gained traction and had a full seat count at its first meeting. Flores wanted to make Common Ground a space where any student can come to hang out with a friend, get food and listen to a story about one of their peers. Although it is Christian-affiliated, Flores advertised that it can be for people of all different backgrounds.
“Anyone can come to Common Ground,” Flores said. “Not everyone there is Christian, for example, maybe they’re going for the free food or just because their friends signed up.”
The main goal of Common Ground is to talk about life and share personal stories in a space where no one will judge you. Flores and her peers hope the meetings will serve as a bridge for students to reach out and feel comfortable connecting with others. At the first meeting, Flores shared her testimony about her family dynamics and how they affected her.
“After I gave my testimony, I felt a relief because none of my peers said anything weird to me and I didn’t get judged,” Flores said. “It feels so much better to know that after I was vulnerable and shared with people around me, they might even feel less alone in whatever they’re going through.”
At Common Ground’s first meeting, the agenda included social time, free food, listening to testimony and games. The mood of the session was able to create a low-pressure environment where all students felt welcomed. Sophomore Chase Cornish shared that he was able to feel included, even surrounded by people he had never met before.
“[Common Ground] made me feel pretty included with people I don’t know. I hadn’t talked to anybody there or anything before, and it was still fun and not awkward,” Cornish said.
But Common Ground isn’t the only place where vulnerability is being encouraged. For the MHS softball team, their way to open up to each other is by participating in journaling together as a team. During these sessions, teammates come together once a week to share both the impacts of softball on their lives and internal battles. Senior Alyx Synan shared how they use this time to bond and get to know one another on a deeper level and in a judgment-free zone.
“[Journaling] helps a lot with people coming into the softball program for the season to get to know the upperclassmen,” Synan said. “It’s a nice way to get to talk to one another in a place that isn’t practice and actually be able to engage with one another.”
Not only does the journaling help the team bond and be vulnerable with each other, it also serves as a time where players learn lessons that extend far beyond softball. The out of practice meetings have even been emotional for players at times when they share stories from beyond the softball field. Through shared experiences from their peers and their coaches, the team is exposed to different perspectives and personal journeys that can help them both on and off the field.
“One of the biggest things I’ve learned from [this experience] is remembering that you are a person first and then a player,” Synan said. “Your performance on the field doesn’t determine who you are as a person. So that’s something that’s definitely stuck with me and that I really wrote down in bold, underlined letters in my notebook.”
