10-Minute Challenge
Award-Winning Student Interventions
A statewide competition challenging California youth to design digital tools that promote healthier tech habits.
Congratulations to the winners of the
2025 10-Minute Challenge!
2025 10-Minute Challenge!
We’re proud to recognize these students for their innovation and commitment to youth mental health. Our panel of judges selected the top entries in each category based on creativity, scientific grounding, and real-world potential. The winning interventions will move into the next phase of research validation.
*Please note that all interventions will need further validation before being recommended for broader use.
High School Winners
Stephanie Leung, Mission San Jose High School
A reflective three-step intervention that guides teens in rethinking the impact of tech on their well-being, reclaiming personal agency, and setting healthy boundaries. The goal of this intervention isn’t to shame tech use, but to empower you to use tech in a way that supports your well-being, instead of working against it.
Zenia Rehan, Castilleja School
Helps participants examine their social media habits and create personalized SMART goals, incorporating peer testimonials and data collection to improve agency.
Riyana Melvani, Monte Vista High School
Guides participants through three self-paced activities to reflect on the content they consume, their digital self-presentation, and the impact of technology on their mental well-being, fostering a more intentional relationship with social media.
Undergraduate Winners
Selena Cuevas and Andrew Alvarez, UC Berkeley
A DBT-informed intervention that provides youth with tools to regulate emotional distress from social media through grounding, reframing, and resilience-building techniques. It seeks to give young people specific tools to handle emotional distress from social media, using strategies like grounding techniques, cognitive reframing, and resilience-building.
Diana Vega, UC Irvine
Teaches users how to recognize and reframe negative self-thoughts, particularly those triggered by comparison online, using relatable storytelling.
Sarah Arcelo, UC Berkeley
Uses mindfulness to help teens reflect on emotional triggers for screen use and develop healthier, more intentional tech habits.
Graduate Winners
Iris Khan, CSU San Bernardino
This intervention focuses on building psychological capital, guiding participants towards recognizing how social media can be a tool for avoidance behavior, and then reframing it as a resource that can help build meaningful social relationships.
Madhuri Sharma, Elizabeth Garci, and Srinidhi Vusirikala, Santa Clara University
A media literacy and GenAI intervention helping teens, especially girls, understand how AI alters body image online and build confidence in navigating digital spaces.
Ellie Xu, USC
Based in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, this intervention helps youth define their values and align their digital habits with those values through committed action.
