Silence

Imagine in a room full of 25 students and one teacher, nobody is talking. Everyone is blankly staring at each other and the teacher is sitting in the back of the room, not saying one word. This was a simple exercise my teacher practiced on us the first day of school. How could silence not be awkward? Of course, out of the 25 students, majority knew at least one person in the room. But even then, there was giggling and a lot of confusion. The students in our class didn't know whether to talk or not because we were always trained to be quiet when the bell rang so the teacher could explain directions. Students in every class, talk because who wouldn't? But in a room full of silenced teenagers, you begin to observe each individual and what they may be thinking at that very moment; because if it's awkward for you, it's just as awkward for person next to you. You may be trained to think about how the teacher is not much more different than you, and could be feeling just as nervous as you are for the first day.