I sat facing the board quietly doing my work.  My teacher asked how I liked the new school. I simply replied, “ It’s nice.” I tried to focus back on my work but got distracted by a cluster of  kids in the back whispering. I struggled to catch every detail of the conversation but definitely held on to the phrase, “new girl”.

That was me. The new girl who moved across the state in seventh grade to a new town, a new district,  not knowing anyone. It seemed like I was different than everyone. My hair was cut in a boyish looking crop cut that showed off my very long skinny neck. I resembled a giraffe, or so I was told. The boys in the back of the class didn’t know I was listening, but one of them made a comment, “ Why are the new girls never good looking? This one’s just weird.”  The next day I had no one to sit with at lunch. When I asked a group of girls if I could sit with them, they laughed and asked who I was. I couldn’t understand what it was about me that everyone disliked.  I realized that no one was going to like the “new girl” with the weird style and the even weirder ideas, including but not limited to: writing songs, talking about horses, and trying to imagine the end of the world.

For the next few weeks I sat, silently doing homework in the corner trying not to draw attention to myself, until some students came around to talk to us about student council. This organization met once a week and planned upcoming school events . Anything was better than sitting in that class working to drown out the whispers that seemed to smother me. So I joined. The first meeting was on a Wednesday. I quietly walked into the health room and stood amazed at the amount of laughter and commotion that came from the room. As I walked in the laughter seemed to stop, and I could feel every eye in the room on me. I tried to find a table to sit at by myself, but they were all filled with unfamiliar faces. As I started to turn around, finally one of the students offered me a seat next to her and asked me my name. Every student in the room was so welcoming and showing an expressed interest to get to know me. Sarah gladly helped me find my way around the next few days until I got the hang of where I was going.

During my two years in the Student Council, I went from the quiet girl who sat in the back to the president of the Council. I was invited to leadership trainings where I learned that everyone has issues fitting in.  When I entered high school, I became the vice president for my class, and my principal even asked me to become a special leader. In high school I thought that the whispering would stop especially since I was a recognized leader instead of the new girl with a giraffe neck, but there are still a few who are critical of me. Now, however, I have learned that those who are critical of others are self conscious themselves. Whether it is the person is teasing me from across the classroom, or the girl who laughs at me as we pass in the hallway, we all have our own stories, our own backgrounds, and our own insecurities. Today as a leader in my school, I work to help students accept themselves and others or who they are. When I see a student looking for a seat or a partner to work with, I smile and ask “ Would you like to sit with us?”