By: Sarah Mitchell

April 27, 2025

It’s hard to explain the feeling of being invisible in a world that expects you to stand out. Every day, I find myself trapped in this cycle of quiet frustration. I’ve always been the shy one. The one who sits in the back of the class, barely speaking up, barely participating in group discussions. It wasn’t that I didn’t have anything to say—on the contrary, I had ideas, thoughts, things I wanted to share. But I looked around and saw that everyone else had their own voices, louder and clearer than mine. They seemed to know the right things to say, to contribute, and I just didn’t want to complicate things by adding my own.

But it turns out, I was wrong. I didn’t realize how my silence would turn into isolation. How, by staying quiet, I made myself more distant, more invisible. People started treating me like I didn’t matter. They didn’t trust me, didn’t seem to want to know me. They saw me as someone on the outside, and that’s where I stayed—on the outside.

I did well on my tests. I wasn’t the best, but I didn’t fail either. But somehow, my good grades didn’t matter to anyone. They copied my work, took the easy route, and then acted like they had done all the hard work. They took what was mine without a second thought, while I stayed forgotten in the background.

And yet, I keep seeing them getting all the recognition. They get the praise, the attention, and I’m just here. Quiet. Unnoticed. My accomplishments are always shared, never truly mine. After a while, I stopped showing what I was good at. I stopped trying to prove anything. It felt pointless. Why bother showing what I could do if no one would ever acknowledge it?

I keep my talents, my skills, locked away, hidden from the world. I don’t want to show them, because every time I do, it feels like they are only taken for granted. I’m not worth much, I think. There’s this overwhelming weight that makes me believe I’m not meant to be here, not meant to be seen, or heard. My presence is a burden to no one but myself. I’ve tried to stay positive. I try to push through, to tell myself that things will get better. But it’s exhausting. Every time I think I’ve escaped the hurt, it finds me again, even harder than before.

I wish I could change. I wish I could break free from this silence. But I’m not sure how. For now, I just keep to myself. Keep quiet. Keep hiding.

– Sarah Mitchell