- Maya Angelou said, "in order to be a mentor, and an effective one, one must care.

You must care."

This week, we head to Los Angeles to share a true story about a mentor and a mentee whose lives connected in the unlikeliest of places.

(uplifting music) - Growing up in the foster care system, it was confusing because I went through many different emotions and phases and stuff, and I didn't have a cognizant awareness of the stuff that I was going through until I got to college.

I was working in the Office of Multicultural Services and I was with my boss, Lily.

And she was like, hey, there's this really cool series.

And she was like, it's human trafficking.

And in my mind, when I thought of human trafficking, I thought of Taken.

So I was like, okay, cool.

- I've always wanted to be a teacher.

That is my dream.

I'm sorry, teachers are rockstars.

- She just starts talking about her story and human trafficking.

And I literally was sitting there and I was like, I think this is my story.

So that was a wake-up call that I was not ready for.

I had no knowledge of what my story was.

I just knew there was abuse with my foster brother.

There was drugs, there was money.

I remember the suicide attempts.

I remember being depressed.

But I didn't know where that was coming from until I did meet Rachel.

- I had swept my story of being trafficked under the rug for seven years, but then when I started teaching, I started noticing that some of my students were being preyed upon.

For me, kids and college students are the most important audience because I firmly believe that if someone had come to my college or high school and talked to me about what human trafficking was, that I would have known the signs and not become a victim.

I definitely experienced depression.

I experienced PTSD.

But I think one unexpected trauma that I experienced was a loss of identity.

- I feel like identity was a huge part into how I got into trafficking because I was born into this female narrative.

And I didn't feel that way.

- It's a psychological process in addition to like, you know, physical violence.

And so that was a long journey for me after of getting back to who I am.

- Telling someone, a girl, that she has to be a housewife and she has to have kids and she has to do all that.

And that's not something people should be subjected to.

Even guys, telling them that they can't cry and be in touch with their feminine side.

It limits people from growing.

I feel like it only further perpetuates hate.

- My favorite part about advocacy is helping people reach the vision for themselves that they don't really think is possible, but they dream it sometimes.

And they may not even tell people because it's so far-fetched.

- I want to start a nonprofit organization.

I want to be a therapist first and eventually open a non-profit.

In order to become a therapist, I got to go through the educational system.

So the way I set goals is I write out my vision.

That's the first thing that I do.

And then I research, I create my budget, and then I give myself deadlines.

I researched what schools encompassed everything that I wanted, and I found my school.

And so I applied and that was my first goal.

And now my goal is to complete the clinical psychology program.

- A lot of my resilience comes from doing this work and seeing the underdogs win.

You know, the people who everyone counted out.

I've seen too much winning, and I've seen so many stories of triumph that I don't look at anyone and be like, there's no hope for that person.

- Don't be ashamed to take resources.

Don't be ashamed to ask for help because that ego is going to get you in trouble.

- I think we're gonna see more compassion when we learn to see people as people.

If we could see the humanity in each other, if we could have empathy, if we could stand up when we see bullying or when we see exploitation, we would have a much kinder world.

And I think all of us would have a much better world to live in.

- [Voiceover] PSA Crew.

Positive Sarcastic - [Child Voiceover] Animation!

- All you have to do is check off the box which identifies you.

- They call it a smart phone, but mine is full of dumb videos.

Awesomely dumb videos.

- Russell?

- Oh, well I was just checking the time.

Simple.

I'm right here.

But then again...and sometimes... - I guess mine is pretty obvious, but I'm more of an outside-the-box thinker.

So I should have one here, here, and here.

Come to think of it.

(marker scratches) - Interesting.

So by triangle, you mean... And place an X where you see yourself on there.

As you can clearly see, some of us are one thing.

- Or both things.

- It's a simple choice between two.

- Or many more than two!

- But in the end, whatever we choose, I guess we can all find happiness.

And wherever we find happiness, that is the correct box for us to stay in.

(upbeat music) - Hello.

My name is Sanyla.

My favorite self-care technique is affirmations.

Why?

Because when you use affirmations, you are speaking a positive statement over your life.

For example, if you deal with low self-esteem or lack of understanding or knowledge, you can say, I am smart, I am confident, and I am beautiful.

But when you say it, you have to mean it.

So try again.

I am smart.

I am confident.

And I am beautiful.

Remember that when you're using affirmations, you're locking in on your inner goals, as well as bringing positivity around you.

So remember, breathe and affirm.

You got this.

- The prime victims of human trafficking are less than 18 years old.

One in four victims are children.

If you are currently being trafficked or know someone who needs help, this is what I want you to do.

I want you to call the National Human Trafficking Hotline or text help to 233733, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

You can also go to our website to find resources for this specific episode.

Stay tuned.

Youth Across America, we are heading to Atlanta, Georgia.

- I've always been very passionate about music.

The E peg is being finicky.

My name is Jace, I am 17 years old and I use they/them pronouns.

There you go, tada!

(plays note) - [Woman] Wow.

That's beautiful.

- A few words I'd use to describe myself, musical, creative, and sensitive.

My mental health has never been great.

Yeah, when it comes to my mental health, I have to use music.

It's a very important coping skill for me.

It's an outlet.

People don't really portray it to be as big of a deal as like physical sickness.

And it can be bigger of an issue because it's invisible.

You will never know if someone is struggling in this way, unless they can straight-up tell you, which is never easy.

I just wish there were like resources, more resources, more support systems for LGBT students in schools.

(Jace plays the violin) - Everything is going to be okay.

- It's such a difficult and interesting story with Rachel and Jae.

So in this episode, we see human trafficking.

But what really is going on is a loss of identity.

It's somebody in a power position oppressing you and changing your role to serve their needs.

So, from a psychological perspective, what happens is you stop growing as you and you start losing your identity and your identity slowly crumbles and crumbles and crumbles.

And it's not a surprise at all that people that have been through this complain of having symptoms associated with PTSD and trauma and so many other indicators of mental health distress.

Another great part of this story, which I think is a positive, a definite positive, is something we call sublimation.

So sublimation is where you take something that happened to you, that could be a negative experience.

And you turned it into a positive experience.

You're connecting your heart to your innate abilities to turn that negative experience into, a way, a calling, a way, to express yourself in the world and to build your identity, your new identity, as a mechanism of change in the world.

So if you're an educator and a teacher and you encounter someone who you feel like maybe going through something like this, they may not let you in.

That's the first thing.

I mean, there's a lot of shame associated with this, you know, with going through this.

So don't try to take it all on your own.

Like this is something where the best thing you can do is to learn where that person's pain is coming from and to just be a connector, just human connection, just an ability to build trust.

That's what you want.

That's all you want.

You don't need to be a human trafficking expert.

You don't need to be a pain expert.

You don't need to be a trauma expert.

You just need to be a human and connect your heart to their heart and just let them know that they can talk to you about it.

And then you slowly guide them towards experts who really understand and know what to do.

- [Voiceover] Do you know someone we should highlight?

Send us your suggestions and keep holding on.

- As we close out this episode, I'm gonna remind you that the only approval that you need is your own.

And that, my friend, is the truth.

We want to thank everybody who made this episode so very special.

In the loft today performing Cover Me off their new album Love Potions, it is my great pleasure to introduce Starbenders.

(mellow music begins) ♪ Cover me tonight ♪ ♪ I don't want to sleep ♪ ♪ When the morning comes, it ♪ makes me want to scream.

♪ ♪ We don't need to dream ♪ ♪ 'Cause nothing's as it seems.

♪ ♪ Lights down low, baby ♪ you don't have to go.

♪ ♪ Die for one another ♪ ♪ Sacrifice my soul ♪ ♪ Cover me tonight ♪ ♪ Die for one another ♪ ♪ Feel it in my bones ♪ ♪ Cover me, oh yeah, would you cover me?

♪ ♪ Don't wanna say goodbye ♪ ♪ The devil's in disguise ♪