Is it possible to improve one’s personality? Marisol (Filipina and white) and her best friend, Jada (Black), think so, and both resolve to change one thing about themselves. Jada wants to be a better athlete, and Marisol, who is quiet and anxious, wants to speak up more in class. At school the next day Marisol starts off strong, raising her hand and getting called on twice. But when classmate Evie (who definitely has no qualms about speaking up) makes fun of her, Marisol’s anxiety doubles down. When her teacher assigns a haiku-writing project that must be recited in front of the class, Marisol is paralyzed as she imagines the worst-case scenarios that will surely play out. She struggles to land on a nature subject for her poem and loses the battle with her emotions at recess, shouting at Evie for making fun of her (“You think you’re funny, but you’re not! … And all your haikus are stupid!”). She feels horrible after her outburst. When she later apologizes to Evie, she is surprised to learn that loquacious Evie, too, gets nervous. Marisol writes and recites her haiku despite her dread, and she ends the school week feeling relieved and proud—perhaps all the more so after experiencing so much anxiety.