I still vividly remember the first time that being quiet felt like a bad thing. I was in kindergarten, just 5 years old, and my teacher had come up with a way to quiet her classroom full of kids: whoever was the quietest would be selected first for “free time” (an end-of-the-day ritual where students got to play with toys and games in the classroom, while the teacher had some much-deserved downtime). This is it, I thought. My time to shine. I can do quiet. I sat there, cross-legged, still and silent, yet absolutely certain that I’d be picked first for free time. But I wasn’t. And then I wasn’t again. And again and again, until every other child in the classroom – those significantly louder and more fidget-y than I – had been allowed to engage in free time except for me. Once the last student was called, my teacher stood up, hands on her hips, and surveyed the room as if mentally patting herself on the back for a job well done, until her eyes fell on me. “Crystal!” she said. “You were so quiet I didn’t even see you there!” So quiet… she didn’t even see [...]
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