You may know my name, but you don't know my story. You might know that I have a stutter, but you don't know what it's like. Only fellow people who stutter will ever truly understand what it feels like to not be able to get out your own name or the name of your own university. From the outside looking in, you might see a girl who occasionally gets stuck on her words. But from the inside looking out, let me tell you, it is a whole different story.

When I was younger, I developed a stutter that my family assumed would go away with time. For a while, they were right. I went through many of my elementary school years with relatively fluid speech with no problems whatsoever. It wasn't until I reached middle school that my stutter began to redevelop, and this time it was here to stay for good. I went through years of speech therapy with multiple different speech therapists with weekly or biweekly meetings. I still, to this day, go to speech therapy because there are days that are worse than others and having the extra support can make or break it for me. I am not here to say how hard my life has been with this obstacle. As a matter of fact, I view my stutter as more of a daily battle that I overcome to make me a stronger person and who I am today. I am here writing this article to inform others about stuttering and what it can be like to be a person who stutters.

First of all, as a member of the stuttering community, I need to say that words have a huge impact and can stay with someone for a long time. Many times when I reach a block and cannot get a word out, people are understanding and I forget it happened with all the hundreds of other things that occur in a given day. However, there are times when I get stuck and people are not so understanding. It is times like these that stick in my mind for what feels like an eternity. I will never forget when I went to order a burger at a dining hall on campus, except the word burger wouldn't come out. As if I didn't already feel like an idiot, the lady behind the counter gave me a condescending look while saying, "Do you just want a burger? Come on now just say it." I quickly nodded, took my meal, and moved onto the salad station. But what the people working the burger station didn't realize was that I could hear them. As I left, I heard them imitating and making fun of me and my speech as I left holding back tears so that my friends wouldn't ask what had happened. Words hurt, especially for those who stutter. So if you know someone who stutters, hear them out and know that they are trying their hardest to say exactly what they want to say. Don't be like the people at the burger station. Patience is the best thing that you can offer a stutter.

One thing that all people who stutter will tell you is that they do not want you to finish their sentences for them. This is so important. The one thing a person who stutters wants is freedom of speech. When you finish a sentence for us, that is simply stripping away that freedom of speech. What if what you assume we are going to say isn't right? Well, we aren't going to correct you because, honestly, trying to correct you takes more brain power and effort than to just agree with you for the sake of the conversation. So please, if you have a friend or colleague or family member who stutters, do not finish their sentences for them. Be patient and eventually the word will get out. It always does.

Another thing that you may not think about when you talk to someone with a stutter is how much our brains work before, during, and after a conversation. What you probably don't know is that we plan out every last detail of every conversation well before it is said. And even then, during the conversation, our brains are constantly working to change any words which we might get stuck on. We try to hide the fact that we stutter so much that our brains are on physical overdrive during each and every conversation. And after? Our brains are on overdrive overanalyzing any and every time we get stuck. It's an exhausting process that, unfortunately, will probably never end.

And finally as a person who stutters, I want to thank the speech therapists who have stuck with me through thick and thin without giving up. Thank you for not only being my therapist but also my friend in which I can confide in (you all know who you are). Thank you to my family for always supporting me through all the years of speech therapy and for doing all they can to help. And thank you to my friends who have learned to be patient with me and love me with my speech impediment and all. Your patience and love mean the world to me; I don't know where I would be without you all.

If you are a person who stutters and are reading this, do not give up on all that you are doing. There will be days when you don't think it is all worth it and you will feel as though it is better to just stay silent and let life pass you by. Don't fall into the trap. If I had fallen into the trap, I would have never graduated high school or made it through a whole year of college. You are stronger than you know and who will overcome it. Don't let your stutter define you but rather let it make you a stronger person.