Dealing with the stress of being a senior in high school can be tough on its own, but Kavya Seth (12) finds her place of relaxation at the Mix, a branch of the San Francisco library. 

Kavya finds a balance between schoolwork and her life at the Mix, in which she has learned many skills necessary to daily life. The Mix offers an abundance of classes such as sewing and contains other unique resources.

“It’s also [has] really good resources too [that] teenagers usually don’t have access to, stuff like 3D printers and a professional recording studio,” Kavya said. “Most don’t usually have access to those things though, and the fact that that is available is really cool.”

At the Mix, Kavya has also met some of her best friends there, after finding out that they shared many common interests. Kavya credits the Mix for providing a space where they met and hang out frequently.

“When I met Aliyah and Cameron for the first time, and we were talking about anime and we were all shaming Cameron for watching dubbed anime and I was talking to Aliyah about Steven Universe. Right after that, Aliyah took us to this weird poetry performance and it was so good,” Kavya said.

As a frequent visitor, Kavya believes in the importance of having a place where teenagers can relax and enjoy the resources available. She supports the idea of having a place dedicated to teens in order for them to relax.

“Because [The Mix] is a place for youth, you’re not even allowed to come in here unless you’re a teenager. That’s really important I guess because that means it’s a place just for youth, and that’s really cool,” she said. 

Kavya’s busy schedule permits her from visiting the Mix as often as she likes, however, she still tries to visit when she can.

“[I’ve been coming here] since last year, [but] I can’t come as often as I want to because every time I get a job, I inevitably have to work on Saturdays because I can’t work on weekdays due to school, so I can’t come here,” she said. “They aren’t open on Sundays which kind of sucks, but I do like coming here every time I come here, even if I can’t come as often as I want to.”

As Kavya’s high school career comes to a close, she finds herself relaxing at the Mix as often as she can.

After she graduates, Kavya encourages other teenagers in the San Francisco area to go and make use of its abundance of resources.