Sarah Kay

And in the time period following, all of the adults around me were very busy trying to keep the world from falling apart.

My mom had broken her ankle.

Just everyone, teachers, parents, everyone was really...

Your brother didn't speak for months.

Yeah.

So there was a lot happening.

And as a result, I didn't want to burden anyone with whatever my 13-year-old thoughts and feelings and worries were.

And to be 13 and try to wrap your head around terrorism...

was really hard for me and so the only way that I understood it at the time was that someone had tried to communicate there is no room for you here

which I understand is a very oversimplified way of reckoning an act of terrorism, but that's what made sense to a 13-year-old.

And my parents were thrilled that there was something that I was vaguely curious about and wanted to go try because it meant...

a little bit of joy in what was otherwise kind of a dark time and then the reason I think that it captured me so tremendously was that it was the first time as a 14 year old girl that I felt like a room full of people were listening to me and saw me and I was allowed to talk about these fears and flaws and joys and doubts in a way that I hadn't before and in some ways

It felt like the whole room was communicating, there is room for you here.

And I don't think I've ever forgotten that.

And I think over and over again, anytime I'm in a room where people have come to listen to me speak, I never take for granted what a gift that is and what it means that people communicate to me that there is room for me here.

Yeah.

I mean, the first time that I ever got on stage, I shared a poem and I came off and it was the first time I'd really performed like that in front of anyone.

And I was so nervous and everyone else in the room was older and cooler.

But there was one girl who came and found me and tapped me on the shoulder.

And when I turned around, she said, hey, I really felt that.