A beautiful butterfly symbolizes the power of transformation—but every butterfly once struggled out of a cocoon, crumpled and exhausted. The 2025 Symbiosis summit, organized and hosted by a team of youth for their peers, focuses on the complexities of transformation.
In an Instagram post, Team Stronger Than You Think (STYT) shared, “Oftentimes in media, we see the result and not the journey, which gives us a warped reflection of the challenges people face on their path of healing. We want to show people that healing isn’t a one-step process and takes time to reach the destination with many bumps along the way, however, the end result is truly the moment of strength, happiness and having the ability to show your wings and fly.”
This year marks the 8th Symbiosis summit by STYT, a youth empowerment group supported by Fremont nonprofit Safe Alternatives to Violent Environments’ (SAVE) community education team.
The seven members of STYT range in grades from freshman to senior, and hail from schools such as Irvington, Washington, American, James Logan and John F. Kennedy. However, students from around the Bay Area can register to attend the Feb. 22 event.
For the first time, Symbiosis will take place at Fremont Main Library. SAVE Community Education Coordinator Shekinah “Skye” Peredo shares, “The library signifies a safe space for the community, and it’s always a space where everyone feels welcome, where there’s a lot of resources available, where the staff are always kind and welcoming and helpful to community members who do go.”
Youth attendees can join two workshops: “Real or Reel? Decoding Media Relationships” where students discuss clips depicting teen relationships and “Speak Up, Speak True: Slam Poetry to Foster Healthy Communication” where they can acknowledge and express themselves through writing.
Workshops are never purely lecture based and always include an interactive element. “It’s great that the youth are the ones facilitating because they know what their peers will like,” Peredo says.
As the library is a resource for all, this year Team STYT encourages the wider community to check out the resource fair portion of Symbiosis. The openness is a good reminder that these skills are not only needed by teens, and that the student attendees of this Symbiosis can take the relationship and communication skills they learn with them throughout their lives.
Symbiosis
Saturday, Feb. 22
12 – 3pm
Fremont Main Library
2400 Stevenson Blvd., Fremont
