An immediate boiling sensation spiraled up my body because I knew that I would fail this quiz. Anxious as a faint-hearted doe taking its very first steps away from the soothing warmth of my mother’s side, I wobbled into this icy-enigmatic world of the English language. Mrs. Miller read the questions out loud for us to answer on paper. I had to strain my tiny ears and keep my tearful eyes completely glued to her lips to try and piece together the words that tumbled out of her mouth. Little teardrops fell from my rosy cheeks onto my blank notebook paper as my heart kept racing. My never-ending tears distorted my vision so that I could see only the outline of the red lipstick that Mrs. Miller painstakingly wore. Soundless, warm tears continued to roll down my cheeks. I reminded myself over and over again to hang in there for just a few more minutes, and then I could wake from this nightmare.

I kept my head down very low, and I hunched my back. My Rapunzel black hair was my armor because I did not want my classmates to see me hysterically weeping like a lost little girl in a brand new city. I did not want my classmates to think that confusion had assumed its label on me and pity me, but as I slouched in my seat drowning in my own thoughts, I realized that I had truly become a forlorn little girl in this mysterious miniature-world. As I sat lifelessly in my seat and my limbs started to go numb, I thought to myself about being eternally stuck in this dreadful labyrinth with no sense of navigation. I felt completely trapped, and I had concluded that I had reached my dead end. I snapped myself out of my own world and peeked through my hair and took a quick glimpse around me and saw that some of my classmates had found their way out of the labyrinth because I saw that one girl had blissfully stood up and walked past me to turn in her quiz. Then another classmate took the same liberating walk. . Then another one; people were popping out of their seats like popcorn. When I saw most of my classmates making a line to turn in their quizzes in that moment, I instantly knew that I stood in the filthy and tainted swamp of pure worthlessness. “Why am I here? Why is this happening to me? Why do I have to take this quiz? Why are my classmates better than me? Why are my parents making me go to this school? Why am I different? Why why why!” I furiously mumbled to myself in Vietnamese. My two warm cheeks became more wet by the second. The endless stream of tears continued to pour down my face while I suppressed my shrieks by shoving my right hand into my mouth. I knew that no one could see, and no one could notice me because I was seated at the very back row in the left corner of the classroom.

Suddenly, Mrs. Miller said in a stern voice, “Class, you have six more minutes on this quiz.” I did not even understand what she was saying, but I could tell by the sound of her voice she was announcing something serious. I timidly glanced down at my quiz notebook paper and all that paper had was my name scribbled on the top left corner. Instantly, I felt this sharp pain in my chest. The pain gradually expanded and intensified. I sat deeper within my chair and buried myself in my hair. My entire body trembled with fear. The dark and depressing thoughts came striking back like lightning in my mind. “I am a dishonor to my family, I am a failure, I am worthless, I am a loser, I am dumb, I am lower than an animal, I am a burden, I am a bad person, and I am nothing!” I sorrowfully mumbled to myself in Vietnamese. My entire body continued to quiver with panic like it had succumbed to being the prey of a slow-moving lion.