“Remember, your authenticity is always welcome in my class!”

I used to be afraid of talking about my own ideas in public because I assumed that there must be people who did not support me. In a self-portraiture project, I drew a red “X” on my mouth and a social mask to show my internal dilemma of feeling incapable of being authentic. However, my teacher gave me an A+ for that project and left one comment: “Remember, your authenticity is always welcome in my class!” I was so touched because I knew there was someone here who really cared and supported me. And that’s enough.