On this episode of Capital Chat, Cliff Dumas visits with Cassie Lumba, a Juneau-Douglas High School senior and national finalist in the Poetry Out Loud competition. Cassie talks about graduating, heading to Anchorage to study biology with plans to go into dentistry, and what it feels like to close one chapter while stepping into the next.

The conversation also explores social media, pressure on young people, and the importance of stepping back to find real connections. Cassie shares why she chose “Longings” by Nellie Rathbone Bright, a poem published in 1927 that still feels strikingly relevant today, and how its themes of freedom, nature, and emotional honesty connected with her own generation.