My Voice Anonymous

Silence filled the room as twenty-two first graders watched me.

“What is it?...” my first grade teacher asked me as I held up my prized possession, a Hello Kitty charm, for Show-and-Tell.

What do you mean “what is it?” It’s the best thing I’ve ever laid my eyes on, I thought to myself.

Yet, I stood there dumbfounded as if the words were trapped inside my mouth.

My teacher finally dismissed me after an eternity of awkward silence. I was embarrassed that none of my classmates had shared my excitement for my Hello Kitty charm. I never talked during the beginning of elementary school because I always felt like my opinion was invalid.

However, this would become a barrier as I struggled to speak up when I didn’t understand what we were learning in class. I’d soon learn that in order to be heard and instill my passion with others that I’d need to find my voice.

I started slow by shouting the answers to basic addition problems during a math game faster than anyone else in my class of six-year-olds. A rush of adrenaline filled me when I won the title of Number Cruncher.Becoming Number Cruncher was proof that my voice could make me feel powerful. In second grade, I realized that making people laugh could be an escape from my fear of...