Confidence

By Yael Werber
Boston University

In my senior year of high school, my best friend broke her nose while playing lacrosse. Aside from being in a good amount of pain, she also had to wear a somewhat ridiculous-looking nose cast. Being the great friend that I am, I went home that night and I got out a paper plate, a handful of pipe-cleaners, and some good old-fashioned elbow grease and fashioned myself an equally ridiculous looking nose cast (probably more so). The next day I wore the nose cast to all my classes, none of the teachers seemed to even notice, and the other students? Well not only did they act as though it was normal, but I even got some nose cast autographs!

That was only one of the many ridiculous outfits I wore to school; there was the time I wore a crown to class on my birthday, the time I wore a bikini over my clothes, or the time my friends and I made Captain Planet T-shirts to promote the Tikkun Olam (community service) committee we headed. What strikes me most about these memories of high school is how safe and accepted everyone made me feel, the teachers and the students.

I went to public school for a year when I was a freshman and it was not a positive experience. Instead of feeling accepted, I felt isolated, I spent all my lunches sitting at a lunch table with another group of girls, only instead of talking with them, I sat quietly while they talked-I learned to be very quiet that year.

If you could have seen me the year after I switched schools into Gann Academy, you would never have believed that the year before I was considered a quiet person. At Gann Academy I was the girl who made announcements in front of everyone at school assemblies. I sang a parody of a Newsies song for my grade talent show, and now at college I still give announcements in front of all of Hillel and put on performances in front of everyone by being part of BU’s Israeli dance group. So what changed? How did I go from being someone who was completely ignored to being someone who loves and craves being in front of everyone? I really think the difference for me was Jewish education. My Jewish high school gave me the confidence to express myself however I wanted, be it through Tikkun Olam, as an Israeli dancer, or being known as the girl with the nose cast.

Yael Werber is a senior at Boston University and was a KOACH intern from 2007-2008. She is an alumna of Gann Academy and is studying Speech Therapy

[Posted 10/29/08]