“Elise! You reached your limit on words for the day!” These were the words I remember my mother yelling to me, as a child, annoyed with my chatter. Of course, I did not care. Growing up, I was a loud, confident, and curious kid. I would talk to anyone and constantly ask questions. However, this changed about halfway through my childhood. Nearing 3rd grade, my parents decided to homeschool me. I took gymnastics and dance classes, but the coaches were manipulative and harsh. They conditioned me into a perfectionist with low self-esteem. At some point I became overwhelmed with the anxiety of being my absolute best. I remember having anxiety attacks and even becoming sick after practices. I felt defenseless. I became a shell of that vibrant, loud little girl. I had isolated myself. Eventually, my parents decided that I was going to go back to a public school after we moved towns. I decided to stop dancing and training in gymnastics; instead, I joined varsity cheer. At first, people would describe me as quiet and shy, but as I formed relationships, I grew into something more. I began to feel more confident as I made friendships with people who supported me. My cheer coach allowed me to share my opinions and taught me that it is ok to fail and as long as I get back up to try again. My teachers helped shape me into the person that I am today. They showed confidence in my future goals and prepared me to pursue my dreams. Finally, what really helped my confidence grow, was my job as a server. Being a server has helped me meet so many new people and become better at conversing. Through my job, I have also made so many friendships with my coworkers, who have pushed me to be my best. I am forever grateful for the people around me who have led me back to being myself. This experience of finding self-worth has allowed me to grow as a person and become stronger. I can now defend myself in an argument and stick up for others. I now know that it is ok to fail every once in a while as long as you persevere and try again. I now know how to deal with difficult people who will try to cut you down. I now know how to be resilient. Finally, this experience has taught me that I can be whoever I want to be. I can write my own story. I can be a voice. In the future, I plan to go to school and become a lawyer so that I can help defend innocent people. My ultimate goal is to help as many people as I can and make a difference in our world. I want to let others know that there are never too many words spoken in a day. Everyone deserves a chance to speak. Everyone deserves to have a voice.

“Elise! You reached your limit on words for the day!” These were the words I remember my mother yelling to me, as a child, annoyed with my chatter. Of course, I did not care. Growing up, I was a loud, confident, and curious kid. I would talk to anyone and constantly ask questions. However, this changed about halfway through my childhood. Nearing 3rd grade, my parents decided to homeschool me. I took gymnastics and dance classes, but the coaches were manipulative and harsh. They conditioned me into a perfectionist with low self-esteem. At some point I became overwhelmed with the anxiety of being my absolute best. I remember having anxiety attacks and even becoming sick after practices. I felt defenseless. I became a shell of that vibrant, loud little girl. I had isolated myself. Eventually, my parents decided that I was going to go back to a public school after we moved towns. I decided to stop dancing and training in gymnastics; instead, I joined varsity cheer. At first, people would describe me as quiet and shy, but as I formed relationships, I grew into something more. I began to feel more confident as I made friendships with people who supported me. My cheer coach allowed me to share my opinions and taught me that it is ok to fail and as long as I get back up to try again. My teachers helped shape me into the person that I am today. They showed confidence in my future goals and prepared me to pursue my dreams. Finally, what really helped my confidence grow, was my job as a server. Being a server has helped me meet so many new people and become better at conversing. Through my job, I have also made so many friendships with my coworkers, who have pushed me to be my best. I am forever grateful for the people around me who have led me back to being myself. This experience of finding self-worth has allowed me to grow as a person and become stronger. I can now defend myself in an argument and stick up for others. I now know that it is ok to fail every once in a while as long as you persevere and try again. I now know how to deal with difficult people who will try to cut you down. I now know how to be resilient. Finally, this experience has taught me that I can be whoever I want to be. I can write my own story. I can be a voice. In the future, I plan to go to school and become a lawyer so that I can help defend innocent people. My ultimate goal is to help as many people as I can and make a difference in our world. I want to let others know that there are never too many words spoken in a day. Everyone deserves a chance to speak. Everyone deserves to have a voice.

“Elise! You reached your limit on words for the day!” These were the words I remember my mother yelling to me, as a child, annoyed with my chatter. Of course, I did not care. Growing up, I was a loud, confident, and curious kid. I would talk to anyone and constantly ask questions. However, this changed about halfway through my childhood. Nearing 3rd grade, my parents decided to homeschool me. I took gymnastics and dance classes, but the coaches were manipulative and harsh. They conditioned me into a perfectionist with low self-esteem. At some point I became overwhelmed with the anxiety of being my absolute best. I remember having anxiety attacks and even becoming sick after practices. I felt defenseless. I became a shell of that vibrant, loud little girl. I had isolated myself. Eventually, my parents decided that I was going to go back to a public school after we moved towns. I decided to stop dancing and training in gymnastics; instead, I joined varsity cheer. At first, people would describe me as quiet and shy, but as I formed relationships, I grew into something more. I began to feel more confident as I made friendships with people who supported me. My cheer coach allowed me to share my opinions and taught me that it is ok to fail and as long as I get back up to try again. My teachers helped shape me into the person that I am today. They showed confidence in my future goals and prepared me to pursue my dreams. Finally, what really helped my confidence grow, was my job as a server. Being a server has helped me meet so many new people and become better at conversing. Through my job, I have also made so many friendships with my coworkers, who have pushed me to be my best. I am forever grateful for the people around me who have led me back to being myself. This experience of finding self-worth has allowed me to grow as a person and become stronger. I can now defend myself in an argument and stick up for others. I now know that it is ok to fail every once in a while as long as you persevere and try again. I now know how to deal with difficult people who will try to cut you down. I now know how to be resilient. Finally, this experience has taught me that I can be whoever I want to be. I can write my own story. I can be a voice. In the future, I plan to go to school and become a lawyer so that I can help defend innocent people. My ultimate goal is to help as many people as I can and make a difference in our world. I want to let others know that there are never too many words spoken in a day. Everyone deserves a chance to speak. Everyone deserves to have a voice.