, a music therapy app created by founders Brian Femminella and Travis Chen, reduces students鈥� stress and anxiety through audio and visual beats tailored to the needs of each user.

The goal for Femminella, 23, and Chen, 24, is to use the healing effects of sound as an approach to help students combat pandemic-induced stress so they can focus in the classroom.

鈥淲e’re not a program, we鈥檙e a tool,鈥� Chen told 社区黑料. 鈥淲e’re a tool that complements existing social-emotional learning curriculum and guides students along the way as they try to relax and improve their mental health.鈥�

SoundMind launched in November 2021 and has gained over 100,000 users 鈥� in addition to reducing their stress and anxiety levels by 46%.

From districts in Los Angeles to New York City, SoundMind has partnered with schools nationwide to help teachers, counselors and administrators gauge their students鈥� mental health.

The science behind SoundMind centers around their music development team that utilize clinically-proven research.

鈥淚t鈥檚 rooted in thanatosonics鈥r the relationship between sound, violence and the human relationship,鈥� Femminella told 社区黑料. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 something we found very useful as we developed our binaural beats.鈥�

Femminella noted as students鈥� use the app, the built-in artificial intelligence creates more personalized sounds.

Through SoundMind鈥檚 online platform, educators have the opportunity to check in on their students鈥� anxiety and depression levels.

The platform provides real-time data for educators to better understand trends between their students鈥� happiness and learning capacity.

鈥淭he response we hear is that it’s transparent and gives them more insights,鈥� Femminella said. 鈥淲e’re able to help admin feel like they can actually see what鈥檚 going on in their classrooms.鈥�  

Chen added how schools particularly enjoy the suggestions page that provides strategies for educators to remedy their students’ specific mental health needs.

鈥淥ur platform is comprehensive, immersive and interactive,鈥� Chen said. 鈥淎nd we’re really proud to be in this specific time where we can help schools with their students鈥� mental health journey.鈥�

To increase the app鈥檚 accessibility, Femminella and Chen partnered with to not only provide students with tablets and wireless service through the but also a SoundMind membership.

鈥淲e recognize that 55% of students are on this program so there was a very big need for us to do this,鈥� Chen said.

For Femminella and Chen, mental health advocacy stems from their personal stories.

Femminella and Chen originally met as randomly selected roommates when they interned for the U.S. Congress.

鈥淥ver time we really bonded and started going to dinners together and had brainstorming sessions later at night,鈥� Femminella said.

As time progressed, Femminella and Chen discovered their mutual interest in mental health advocacy 鈥� which eventually led to the creation of SoundMind in their University of Southern California dorm rooms.

Femminella noted his LGBTQ and military background plays a large role in his understanding of social-emotional wellness.

鈥淚 joined the military at a young age and had a lot of political aspirations in regards to how I saw the mental health space and how soldiers were struggling,鈥� Femminella said. 鈥淚’ve seen folks in these environments feel small so being able to give a voice to people who feel powerless is something really impactful for me.鈥�

Chen said his Asian American roots reinforce his desire to destigmatize conversations around mental health.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of competition in the AAPI community in regards to AP scores and SAT classes to name a few,鈥� Chen said. 鈥淚 remember personally struggling with my own mental health in high school and I knew I had to do something about it.鈥�

Chen believes the power of social media has shaped the landscape of youth mental health.

鈥淣owadays students are hiding behind screens,鈥� Chen said. 鈥淪o instead of disciplining and telling them what not to do, how can we meet them where they’re at?鈥�

As SoundMind continues to grow, Femminella regards their work with SoundMind as a testament to how impactful Gen Z leaders can be.

鈥淲e hope to be the pinnacle of what it means to push hard and be furious about how youth in our country are struggling,鈥� Femminella said.

社区黑料: What was the atmosphere like in the community during the peaks of anti-Asian hate and COVID-19?

Alice Hom: During the pandemic, our school had 30 percent of our students in person, so about 70 percent were remote, full time, the whole year. And a lot of that, I believe, did have to do with the fear of COVID-19 … but also with the anti-Asian sentiment mid year, parents did express fear of traveling on subways and buses … and were concerned about the safety of their kids, both health wise and physically.

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社区黑料: How did you combat the negativity during the heightened times of hate?

Alice Hom: Around May, when we had our celebration of Asian Pacific month … our district, district 2 had a whole initiative where all the kids wore buttons that expressed love, peace, and prosperity. The kids also wrote on ribbons about what their hopes and dreams are. We displayed that around the school to create a positive environment for families. And during the summer, during the summer program, a few more of the remote families did come back partly to get the kids reacclimated with their peers, and to psychologically get ready for next school year.

社区黑料: Could go into specifics of what you are anticipating for this upcoming school year? Are there any anxious parents? Or does it just seem like everyone’s like returning back and excited?

Alice Hom: I think there’s still, especially with the Delta variant, there is that hesitancy … one parent was expressing that, there should be still a remote option for families. And that they’re very nervous about the illness, especially since the elementary school kids are not being vaccinated yet. And they were asking about masks and, and teachers being vaccinated. We’ve tried to address their concerns, and I spoke to that parent and said many of the teachers in my school that I know of are vaccinated, and we are getting ready for full in person. And we are going to continue masking. Everyone is required to have the mask, and we will do the social distance. We’re trying to figure out how to safely have lunch periods, when the distance should be larger and kids are unmasked. But that is our goal to have kids back in the fall.

社区黑料: Are there any concerns in terms of anti-Asian hate as schools return in the fall?

Alice Hom: We are going to address it, I mean, district 2 is focusing on, being culturally responsive, providing education and talking about racism and how to address those kinds of discrimination. And things like that. So, that is something that is being addressed both for Asians as well as the Black and Hispanic population … We are going to use videos and books for the kids to bring their own ideas about how they’re feeling. That’s really what we’re concentrating on at the beginning of the year, to have them talk about what their fears are, what their concerns are, and just to talk about what are the best ways to keep themselves and your family safe and healthy.

社区黑料: Do people still feel safe to be a little more hesitant? Do you think that sense of community was lost?

Alice Hom: I think there are a lot more cautious families in the neighborhood, there has been crime (against) the community, so we’ve had a lot more awareness. And many of the schools in our district have contacted our local precinct in order to have them Zoom and talk to the parents about safety tips. A lot of our staff members and family members got those whistles, and we distributed them out to people who wanted them. I think there is much more consciousness and vigilance that many of our families in the area have shown.

社区黑料: Is there anything else you鈥檇 like to share?

Alice Hom: The Asian community is a strong community and has contributed so much to America, and especially in education. So there needs to be more collaborative and positive media and social media to address their contributions, but also to address their concerns in a way that is not derogatory or not looked down upon.

The argument that admission to the nation鈥檚 most elite colleges is discriminatory against Asian Americans has been deemed inaccurate in a new study by researchers at Georgetown University鈥檚 Center of Education.

The study, 鈥淪elective Bias Asian Americans, Test Scores, and Holistic Admissions鈥� found the current holistic admissions system, which looks at many aspects of a student鈥檚 application beyond their GPA and test scores and is used at many selective colleges, benefits Asian American applicants more than an alternative test-only system.

Critics have claimed holistic admissions and affirmative action conceals illegal practices of racial quotas and as a result, Asian American applicants are being denied to maintain a range of other ethnic groups.

But the study found that at the nation鈥檚 91 elite colleges, Asian American enrollment has remained stable for the last 20 years.

The study also found that only a small number of Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) would be admitted under a test-only system. Under the holistic admissions system, AAPI students typically gain nearly 14,500 spots in a year, while a test-only system only results in a mere 3,000 student gain.

The study explained the higher rate of Asian American students being rejected as a result of the higher proportion of Asian American applicants who apply to selective colleges regardless of their test scores.

Dr. Anthony Carnevale, the primary author in the Selective Bias Study, believes the debate over Asian Americans and affirmative action reflect a larger issue with college admissions.

鈥淚 firmly believe, as it shows in all our other work, the argument over Asian Americans, in a sense, misses the point. The real question here is what should we be using as metrics and other kinds of standards for admitting students?鈥� said Dr. Carnevale. 鈥淭his study begs the question of what should we do? What should colleges do, in terms of their admissions policies?鈥�

Here are they key findings from the report:

1. Enrollment of Asian Americans at the Most Selective Colleges Has Remained Stable Over the Past Decade

In the past 20 years, Asian American enrollment increased to match changes in demographics of college鈥檚 incoming classes. Between 1999 and 2018, enrollment of AAPI at the most selective colleges grew by 4 percentage points; while their enrollment at other four-year schools grew by 2 percentage points.

2. Asian American Students are More Likely to Apply to Highly Selective Colleges Regardless of Test Scores than other Racial Groups

Asian Americans applicants with below average test scores are more likely than students from other ethnic groups to apply to selective colleges driving up the number of AAPI applicants, according to the study.

Of the Asian-American students who scored a 1300 and above on the SAT, 65% applied to the selective colleges in comparison to 50% of non-Asian American students. For students who scored below 1300, 12% of Asian American students applied to those schools compared to 5% of non-Asian American applicants.

3. In A Test-only Admissions System Would Produce Marginal Gains for Asian American Applicants 

Advocates have long pushed for a test-only, race-blind admissions system in their arguments against affirmative action. Advocates point to California schools, such as UC Berkeley and UCLA as examples of elite institutions with high numbers of Asian Americans students.

But in the study鈥檚 simulation of what would happen if college admissions did not use 鈥渞ace, legacy status, athletics, extracurricular activities, academic interest, ability to pay,鈥� instead basing admission solely based on test scores, Asian American enrollment would only result in a mere 2% increase.

4. Many Asian American Applicants Already Benefit from Holistic Admissions

The simulation also showed that without holistic admissions, 21% of Asian American students and 39% of non-Asian American students would not have received acceptances, with their spots going to students with higher test scores.

In a solely test based approach, Asian American students who would have been denied overall do have higher test-scores, however, they are also 鈥渢wice as likely as their non-Asian peers to have the lowest scores in the application pool.鈥� This is because Asian Americans are not monolithic, as 40% of AAPI college students have test scores below than average.