Growing up, I had some serious speech issues. Whenever engaged in conversation with me, if you weren't used to the way I spoke, you would have to turn to my parents for a translation, and sometimes even they didn't fully understand what I was trying to say. I spent years in the speech correction classes that my primary and elementary schools offered with other students who struggled with the way they spoke. We all grew up together, learning how to understand each other when no one else could.

Now, we're older and have graduated from those speech classes. Except maybe a few slip-ups here and there, you would never be able to tell that we've battled our own mouths to get others to comprehend our words for so long. It's not just the corrections that have stuck with us from those classes, though. Whenever we meet a younger child who struggles with their speech, we can understand them. We had so much practice understanding each other growing up that those skills have stuck with us. We can still speak the language that so few can interpret.

Unless you grew up with speech issues, you don't understand how wonderful it feels when someone understands you. If you're talking to a group of adults, seeing their confused faces can make you seem so small, but even just one person who is nodding along and actively responding to you can give you so much encouragement. It makes you feel like you're improving with the way you speak, and pushes you to work even harder so that even more people can come to understand you. The way you speak becomes such an important of your life, and sometimes after you've defeated all of your past issues, you'll find that you excel in stuff such as theatre or speech and debate.

For those of us who have moved on from those speech correction classes, we've found ourselves encouraging younger children who struggle like we did in the way that we were never encouraged; we encourage by understanding. It's so important for those kids to have someone to listen and focus and understand them, and we're just glad that even in these small ways, we can help them. It seems like a small difference, but when added up, it's something quite impactful.