GRANDVILLE, Mich. — Eden Alonso-Rivera had a complicated relationship with her father while growing up.
As he was in and out of incarceration throughout her life, her father’s situation was something she kept close to her.
Now a junior at Grandville High School, a podcast assignment last year inspired her to open up about her relationship with her father.
“I wanted it to be like a story, and I wanted to keep the listener hooked and like intrigued and wanting to know more and the material, because I thought, first, ‘Okay, well, I'm gonna have to have something of my father, and I don't have any audio of my father,’” Alonso-Rivera said. “And I thought, ‘Okay, but I do have our letters that are very intimate, like I hold those letters very close to my heart. Those are the only things that I have, and some photos of him in the envelope that I keep all of my letters in.’”
And her podcast, "A Relationship Behind Bars" was born.
The podcast blends the letters between Alonso-Rivera and her father while he was incarcerated, with her own experiences, and the story of her mother who raised her.
Another student in Alonso-Rivera's class read her father’s letters, while she read her own. But she didn’t want the podcast to just be about her.
“The person who really, really helped me through it all is my mom. You know, I wouldn't be who I am now without the situation with my father, but it's really my mom's backbone and my mom's strength that helped me to make it out alive,” she said. “I guess, if I didn't have my mom's guidance, I don't know where I'd be at in life, like I really don't. And yeah, the story is about the relationship with my father, but it's also the underlying story and strength of my mother.”
Having a role model like her mom, Audrey Alonso, showed Alonso-Rivera what strength is. She knows her mom had to make difficult decisions, which they talk about in the podcast.
“It wasn't easy for her. I know that for a fact, like with my mindset, it's like I could never be weak, because I learned from the best. That's my mom. You know, it was a lot for her,” she said. “I remember when I was younger, and all the credit goes to her, all of it, she's so strong, like beyond words. Words can't even describe how much I admire my mother's strength for getting us out of that situation. It takes a lot, you know what? I mean, it takes a lot to make that decision, and I'm very proud of her.”
Mike Cox, Alonso-Rivera's A/V teacher, encouraged his students to submit their work to NPR’s Student Podcast Challenge. Alonso-Rivera was the only student who applied.
"A Relationship Behind Bars" went on to win this year’s grand prize in the competition.
“I'm very grateful that I have the opportunity to get my voice out there, and I'm so grateful that my story is helping other people to the point where it makes me cry good tears.”
The national attention her podcast received makes telling her story rewarding.
On Thursday night, Alonso-Rivera and her mom were reading the comments and responses to the story online, and one response caught Alonso-Rivera in her steps.
“[My mom] was reading through the replies, and there was one reply talking about how my story helped a little boy in my situation, and it just like, made me cry so hard. I don't know why. It's always when, like, people come out and they say, ‘Hey, I'm going through something similar, and hearing your story helped me,’” she said. “It just makes me, like, get really emotional, because it's like, it heals a part of me that I didn't know was unhealed, I guess, and it just makes me feel really good.”
She joined A/V club on a whim, because as a freshman she looked up to the "older kids" at school and thought, “Wow, that's so cool.” She thought through the class she would just be doing announcements and videos, nothing like a national award-winning podcast.
But she wants to encourage other kids to just go for it.
“You know it doesn't have to be just podcasting or making videos. It could be anything, anything that helps you express yourself to it, and who cares? What I mean, some of the coolest people I've met is through A/V, like people who I would never think that I would talk to or come across paths are so cool. Why not do it?” she said.
“Put yourself out there. You have nothing to lose.”
You can find Alonso-Rivera's podcast on The Suburban on Spotify, along with other podcast episodes from Grandville High School.