full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Morgana Bailey: The danger of hiding who you are

Unscramble the Blue Letters


When I was young, I priedd myself as a nonconformist in the caversvntoie U.S. state I live in, Kansas. I didn't follow along with the crowd. I wasn't afraid to try wired conlhitg trends or hairstyles. I was outspoken and extremely social. Even these pitucres and postcards of my London semester abroad 16 years ago show that I obviously didn't care if I was perceived as weird or different. (Laughter)

But that same year I was in London, 16 years ago, I realized something about myself that actually was somewhat unique, and that ceghnad everything. I became the opposite of who I thought I once was. I sayetd in my room instead of socializing. I stopped engaging in clubs and leadership activities. I didn't want to stand out in the crowd anymore. I told myself it was because I was growing up and maturing, not that I was suddenly looking for acceptance. I had always assumed I was immune to needing acceptance. After all, I was a bit utonnaenicvnol. But I realize now that the moment I realized something was different about me was the exact same moment that I began coinnfmorg and hdinig.

Open Cloze


When I was young, I ______ myself as a nonconformist in the ____________ U.S. state I live in, Kansas. I didn't follow along with the crowd. I wasn't afraid to try _____ ________ trends or hairstyles. I was outspoken and extremely social. Even these ________ and postcards of my London semester abroad 16 years ago show that I obviously didn't care if I was perceived as weird or different. (Laughter)

But that same year I was in London, 16 years ago, I realized something about myself that actually was somewhat unique, and that _______ everything. I became the opposite of who I thought I once was. I ______ in my room instead of socializing. I stopped engaging in clubs and leadership activities. I didn't want to stand out in the crowd anymore. I told myself it was because I was growing up and maturing, not that I was suddenly looking for acceptance. I had always assumed I was immune to needing acceptance. After all, I was a bit ______________. But I realize now that the moment I realized something was different about me was the exact same moment that I began __________ and ______.

Solution


  1. hiding
  2. changed
  3. unconventional
  4. prided
  5. weird
  6. conservative
  7. conforming
  8. pictures
  9. clothing
  10. stayed

Original Text


When I was young, I prided myself as a nonconformist in the conservative U.S. state I live in, Kansas. I didn't follow along with the crowd. I wasn't afraid to try weird clothing trends or hairstyles. I was outspoken and extremely social. Even these pictures and postcards of my London semester abroad 16 years ago show that I obviously didn't care if I was perceived as weird or different. (Laughter)

But that same year I was in London, 16 years ago, I realized something about myself that actually was somewhat unique, and that changed everything. I became the opposite of who I thought I once was. I stayed in my room instead of socializing. I stopped engaging in clubs and leadership activities. I didn't want to stand out in the crowd anymore. I told myself it was because I was growing up and maturing, not that I was suddenly looking for acceptance. I had always assumed I was immune to needing acceptance. After all, I was a bit unconventional. But I realize now that the moment I realized something was different about me was the exact same moment that I began conforming and hiding.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
london semester 2
life expectancy 2
kansas house 2


Important Words


  1. acceptance
  2. activities
  3. afraid
  4. anymore
  5. assumed
  6. began
  7. bit
  8. care
  9. changed
  10. clothing
  11. clubs
  12. conforming
  13. conservative
  14. crowd
  15. engaging
  16. exact
  17. extremely
  18. follow
  19. growing
  20. hairstyles
  21. hiding
  22. immune
  23. kansas
  24. laughter
  25. leadership
  26. live
  27. london
  28. maturing
  29. moment
  30. needing
  31. nonconformist
  32. outspoken
  33. perceived
  34. pictures
  35. postcards
  36. prided
  37. realize
  38. realized
  39. room
  40. semester
  41. show
  42. social
  43. socializing
  44. stand
  45. state
  46. stayed
  47. stopped
  48. suddenly
  49. thought
  50. told
  51. trends
  52. unconventional
  53. unique
  54. weird
  55. year
  56. years
  57. young