"So, you like anime?"

It's a bit funny how back in highschool I really wanted to be one of the weird kids that wore their interests on their sleeves. I think for most tweens and teens now, this is mostly encouraged or at least somewhat normalized.

But I pushed so much of that down. Like, I was still known as a weird kid who was known for liking anime too much. I'm not going to deny that. But I was definitely discouraged from showcasing it too much outside of highschool.

And so now, I've internalized it so much that when someone does question me about my interests, I tend be very reserved about what I say.

I know I come off as rude in such face to face conversations. My responses are curt as I don't want to waste their time by info dumping on them. I wish I could develop better communication skills regarding responding to innocuous inquiry from strangers without feeling threatened.

I guess too, I still have yet to mature out of being an inquisitive listener and into an engaging educator. Sucks too, because I definitely think I should of been advantaged considering my primary and secondary education incorporated oral presentations more than the average US curriculum. But outside of school, I didn't further develop those skills or a perspective of myself as an authority figure.