Helpful tips and personal stories. Exploring challenges and successes in education when you’re feeling socially anxious, shy and not good enough. You are not alone.
I remember, in the first few weeks of secondary school sitting on the stairs crying at the idea that I had to keep doing this secondary school thing for the next 7 years. I said something like “secondary school is school with all the fun zapped out of it”. It was all grades, grades, grades…
You can help if you have been a student at, or worked in any role within, a UK Secondary School. We’re researching quiet students’ experiences within UK secondary schools, with the aim of collecting enough data to better understand and raise awareness about the challenges that quiet students in schools face, with the intention of…
Speaking in a group as a shy student at school was a problem for me. One of the worst experiences I can remember is the speaking exam I had to do for GCSE English which involved having a discussion in a group of four students and the teacher. I could usually respond verbally if I…
I have two vivid memories of feeling anonymous from my school days. My first experience occurred when I was 15 and I had signed up to the school’s House Music competition. The deputy head of my house – who was involved in organising our performance – also happened to be my English teacher and had…
‘You’re like talking to a brick wall’. I probably was like talking to a brick wall – I suppose there was an element of truth to it. However, was this the right response from my teacher? And did it actually achieve anything? Well, in short – no! Of course, it didn’t have any impact at all on…
What is a good outcome for students leaving school? A good outcome for a student involves achieving their very best possible set of results at GSCE or A level, right? Well, I was that student. Now, I’m a teacher. And I think we’re missing something more important. I hope my own personal story can inspire…
Age 22, I am due to present my dissertation at University. I feel sick with anxiety. Thankfully, this is not an assessed part of the course and I am given an exemption. As a shy, socially anxious student, presentations had always been a nightmare for me, and it wasn’t until my postgraduate studies that I…
As we’re accepting applications for our Socially Anxious to Quietly Confident programme (Yay!), we’ve been reflecting on the decision-making process -and what happens AFTER we’ve committed, so we can support our Quieteers when and how they need it. But it’s not only our Quieteers starting a new course -I’m going back to school too! Some…
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Do you ever worry that you’re ‘too quiet’ in class? Pray that a lecturer won’t pick you to answer the question in front of everyone? Die a little inside when you hear that word… “PRESENTATION”? Perhaps feel concerned about making friends? Or what your peers will think of you? It can feel hard attending college…
At 7 years old, I felt so terrified when doing a ‘weather forecast’ at school, I nervously farted in front of my class. At 26, I froze during a 3-minute presentation whilst on a ‘Projecting Professional Confidence’ workshop; feeling unable to finish I ran back to my seat and held back tears as my body…
I’ve come to the point in my life where I realise that what I did one day does not epitomise who I am; but it epitomised who I was that day. I look back to things I’ve done even in the last week and cannot understand how I did them -it becomes unrecognisable to me…
Stretching my comfort zone at university I have been seriously stretching my comfort zone ever since I started university (which you can read about here), but the past couple months have actually seen my comfort zone double in size, maybe even triple. I’ve found an amazing group of friends at uni and I’m feeling incredibly…