On November 2, 2020 Mariano Coreas uploaded a public video speaking about the negative effects of distance learning, more specifically his disappointment within the management during these difficult times from Downey High administration and staff. Blowing up almost instantly; thousands of likes, shares, and reposts were gained from students within the entire DUSD, and neighboring districts. With a polarized comment section, viewers found themselves in either 100% agreement or disagreement. The lack of a middle ground divided viewers, leaving students, staff, and all other administration in disconnect.

While many were left puzzled by what seemed like a late response to the management of the first fully distanced semester,  Coreas relieves confusion by directly stating the motives behind his unpredicted, yet revolutionary video. In addition to his previous statements of speaking for people, Coreas reveals the previously unknown catalyst to these cycle of events. 

“I’ve been stressed out about the workload and it was just making me mad overall. Like I mentioned; I feel the school took something we have never done before, and in a way instantly normalized it without any warning. I also had a person I hold very dear to me have a terrible anxiety attack that could have gotten dangerously bad had I not shown up.” Coreas said. “That to me was the conformation that things had turned a little hectic and that there needed to be a reform in the prioritizations of mental health, because the current one isn’t enough.” 

With over 40 thousand views in only a 10 day span, Coreas was satisfied with the amount of attention he received, taking immense pride in the numbers from his video.

“I had kinda known what I wanted out of the video; it was an idea I knew I had to execute so I did. I was also trying to experiment with the Instagram algorithm. I will admit I first told myself to aim for 500 views, then said 1,000, then after realizing I had reached a thousand and above I didn’t really mind anymore; it definitely blew up quicker then I thought it would. In under an hour I had about 2,000 views and for a point in time I was getting like 1,500 views per hour.” 

Within his polarized comment section; Coreras felt bliss not only from those in agreement with him, but also from having gained perspective from his adversaries.

“I thought it was dope seeing more people agree with me than hate on me. I got a lot of DMs from random kids even outside of Downey telling me what I did both helped and inspired them. That really touched me because I’ve never had that much support and it made me feel like I’ve come a long way from the kid I used to be.” 

While current and former Downey alumni continue to criticize the overall structure, tone, and organization of Coreas’ video, he performs a self evaluation, admitting he would make minor changes to a remake, hinting at a possible follow up to his original video.

“If I could remake, with the same approach, I would want to directly offer my own solutions. I wasn’t really satisfied with the amass; ever since I made the video I’ve been planning to do more, this time offering more ethos, pathos and logos,” Coreas said. “I want to see students actually be heard or given the opportunity to speak without the fear of judgement from fellow students or even administrators and teachers. Heard as in not just during this pandemic but enough to impact future generations even after we graduate.” 

Feeling left confident in his efforts towards this movement, Coreas is satisfied with having loudly unified the whispering voices of many, striving to see improvement within administration to hopefully result in ease for students during these uncharted times.