I'm sorry for your loss; it must have been so painful." These words have been said to me many times during my lifetime, referring to the blindness of my left eye and the many surgical procedures I have had to endure. My blindness came from an ultra-rare disease called Coats Disease. My fight against this disease has taken away my sight, but it offered me some clarity of my identity. Some of my peers would say my identity is being "that blind kid."I would disagree because though my race, culture, disability, and gender may shape my identity, it does not define it. What defines a human's identity is what they choose to become and why. My identity is my pursuit of self-discovery, personality, and mindset towards myself and others. If asked the question, "What defines a person?" Nothing defines a person more than believing in one's self. My life path is like a game of chess with opportunities to act and react rather than a game of Jenga with others pulling the blocks out from under me. In chess and life, I move forward or backward depending on what the right move is at the time. Each move affects my life and the other pieces in the game. We are all different pieces at different times, but they are all important for self-discovery. By striving to understand my self-identity, I have realized that one of my attributes is being quiet. I remember reading an article on hummingbirds. Hummingbirds fly quietly from flower to flower, soaking in every experience around them. Though you cannot hear them as they pass by, the influence on each flower and its environment is impactful. I aspire to be a purposeful thinker who actively listens first to increase the quality of conversations. Becoming a purposeful thinker allows me to read non-verbal cues, learn something new, and gain perspective on others' ideas, enabling others to open up more to me. To say I have always thought this way would be the wrong assumption. The philosopher Plato said, "Music gives wings to the mind and flight to the imagination."... This resonates with my mindset of seeing the world as a song. Feeling the beat in every step is an opportunity to experience living truly. The high notes keep me moving forward with an upbeat tempo. While the lows may create a more Adagissimo speed in my stride, with the proper thought process and guidance, my flight should lead to resilience and my own mental and emotional well-being. I spoke previously of how my eyesight doesn't define me, but that doesn't mean I can't use it to my advantage in seeing life through the eyes of a stranger. Strangers may view the quiet student with a judgmental view and think this is nonsense. They may think, "These quiet students in school have nothing going for them." However, I advocate for other quiet students in school because they may be playing mental chess in their heads. Acting and reacting to the chaos that high school can sometimes be, just waiting to make an impactful move to conversations. Or they are walking to their own beat, progressing through life at the tempo of their song. So, what do they have going for them? I would speak from my perspective and tell them my identity is not a finished product but an ongoing process. But if you asked me, the quiet ones have much more to express than the ones that speak out without pausing to look around once in a while.