I found the video by Brene Brown to be very poignant and emotional. The points she made about shame and education systems were particularly relatable for me; I found myself reflecting back on many points in my own childhood. I would like to discuss these moments in my life, and how they tie into Brown’s points.

In her speech, Brown asked how many people in the audience could think of something that happened to them in school that changed how they thought of themselves. A moment that I still remember was when I walked up to my Grade 8 teacher because I realized that I had forgotten to hand in an assignment. I gave it to him, apologized, and he suddenly laughed really loud. The whole class turned towards me and I can still remember feeling ashamed. I think that feeling has stayed with me and I’m always terrified to approach teachers now. This returns to another point Brown made about the distinction between shame and guilt: shame is directed at oneself, guilt is directed towards a choice. I think I’ve always been prone to feeling shame, and if some of my teachers had recognized that I believe I may have found school a lot more manageable. Instead, I became incredibly self-critical.

Another talking point Brown had was that teachers are in a position where they are surrounded by students without their ‘shells’ on - students that are very vulnerable and impressionable. This reminded me of a student-teacher interview my mother had with my math teacher, wherein he told my mother that I needed to “come out of my shell.” I remember this made me feel incredibly insecure, as though I did not behave correctly. I think it is incredibly important that teachers understand how their actions have a large impact on students.

To conclude, I was really grateful I had the opportunity to watch and learn from this video. It was incredibly impactful and, in my opinion, meaningful.