I was really nervous this year because I was in a new class. It _______ me that I didn't know anyone in the class. But _______I didn't know anyone,   I had the _______to do something I love- people watching.

The girl sitting behind me was always laughing and talking happily. She was one of the very few people who made any_______ to acknowledge me.

At the end of the year, we were_______ to do a big open-ended project where the_______were basically to read something, then watch something related to it, and then _______ a presentation based on what we learned.

On the presentation day, that girl_______ in front of the class, and told everyone how she had read about eating disorders, because she herself had_______with one. As it was too difficult for her to talk about it__________, she had made a movie, where she had__________some people about their eating disorders and how they had felt and __________them eventually. After the presentation, almost__________ was in tears. Several people commented on how __________she was to stand up and talk about it, and how strong she was to have got over the disorder.

I never__________she would have a problem like that because she always seemed __________. Her courage to talk about something so__________in public and her strength to get through her difficulties have__________me. I’ve also learned how difficult it is to__________people. You never know what type of person someone is just by__________for a term.

One day, a kind woman happened to say something that hurt her best friend of many years. She ________ immediately and would do anything to take the words back. What she said hurt the friend so ________ that this good woman herself was hurt for the mess she caused. In an effort to undo what she had done, she went to an older, wiser woman in the village, explained her situation, and asked for advice.

Listening to her, the older woman sensed the younger woman’s worry and knew she must ________ her. She also knew she could never remove her pain, but she could teach. She knew the result would only ________ the character of the younger woman. She said, “Tonight, ________ your best feather pillow and put a single feather on the ________ of each house in town before the sun rises.”

The young woman hurried home to prepare for it, ________ the feather pillow was dear to her. ________, she worked alone in the cold. Finally the sky was getting ________. She placed the last feather on the step of the last house. Just as the sun rose, she ________ to the older woman.

“Now,” said the wise woman,” go back and refill your pillow with the feathers you have put on the steps. ________ everything will be as it was before.”

“You know that’s impossible! The wind ________ away each feather as fast as I placed them on the steps!” The young woman was surprised.

“That’s ________,” said the older woman. “Nevers forget. Each of your ________ is like a feather in the wind. Once spoken, no matter how much of your effort, no matter how heartfelt or sincere, can never return them to your ________. Choose your words well and, most of all, guard them in the presence of those you love.”