It will get better. Sure, you’ll always have bad days and unfortunately you’ll probably never lose that clenched feeling straining at your lips over trouble words or during high-pressure conversations, but you can and you will improve.

As hard as it may be to believe, as time goes by you will learn to cope. It’s not easy, or quick. It may take hours of practice and trial and error to find out what works for you, and what doesn’t. You may find that some sort of meditation works, or practicing saying words over and over until they're ingrained into your brain, and comfortable on your tongue. You may find that with time, you almost subconsciously think ahead of every sentence you say, as you’re saying it, to anticipate tense words and choose another in their place. And you may find that none of these methods work for you at all. You’ll find your method, however, and learn to fine tune it. As time goes by, you'll just get used to it.

I say this because I know. I know how it feels to dread the first day of school because you won’t be able to spit out your own name, or how you stay up all night reciting a speech for class over and over so that the words come just a tiny bit easier when you’re standing in front of your classmates the next day. I know how it feels to be mocked by someone after a particularly noticeable stutter, and to laugh along because you just want to move on from it and you can’t quite blame them, either.

I know the stress it adds to normal day to day activities - things like ordering takeout, asking a question in class, or introducing yourself. I know how it feels to go through your day as if you’re walking on egg shells, trying to avoid stuttering while still maintaining something of a social life. I know how it feels to have so much to say, and no courage to try to say it.

I know how it feels to choose to say nothing out of courtesy for other people, how you don't want your impediment to take up an extra three seconds of someone else's day.

However, your stutter can mean more to you than just a nuisance. You have a different outlook on life than other people, and you have learned not to take your most basic human abilities for granted. Because of your stutter, you've faced unique challenges, and you've overcome them.

You will continue to overcome them, just as you have overcome every bumpy word and every drawn out sentence. Don't apologize for what makes you you; embrace it. Every messy word is a testament to your strength to persist.