nterpreted her at her worst. The
cry of a girl's heart for someone who understands is the cry of
humanity. No one can perfectly understand another, therefore only God
can be just. And so in a sense all girls are misunderstood. But there
are special types of girls who suffer more from being misunderstood by
their families, neighbors, friends, and by strangers than do others.

There is the self-conscious girl. Shy and made awkward by her shyness,
unable to forget that she has hands and feet, painfully aware that she
must walk while others watch her, that she is expected to say something
and those who listen will criticize, she suffers intensely. The great
onrush of self overwhelms her, she stammers, blushes, fingers and eyes
help to reveal her suffering and as soon as possible she beats a
retreat. How intense her sufferings are only those who know by
experience can say. The shy and self-conscious girl will always be
misunderstood. People may be very sorry for her but they do not
understand her. She needs a friend who has passed through the
self-conscious stage to sympathize with and help her, or some girl quick
to see her good qualities who can show confidence in her and smooth over
the awkward places for her, until she becomes convinced that she is like
other girls and that she can do as they do.

I shall never forget the change which her first year in college made in
a girl friend of mine. In the high school she was exceedingly shy. Her
recitations were accompanied by so much suffering that they were painful
to witness. Her written tests revealed an unusual mind, keen and active.
She won the prize for the best essay in a county contest. She was asked
to read it to the school and though she begged to be excused, her
teacher insisted. She slept little and ate little during the days before
it must be read and on the morning when the school assembled to hear it
looked pale and wan. It was with very evident effort that she walked to
the front of the platform. Her lips opened but no voice came. Her sister
thought she was going to faint but she pulled herself together and was
able to read in a thin scared voice which could not be heard three seats
away. But those who heard and those who read marveled at the thoughts
which the girl had written in a clear and original fashion. Still when
she left for college she was a misunderstood and unappreciated girl in
her own home and among her neighbors.

It seemed as if she could not e