Everyone has a superpower.

No, not necessarily flight. Or laser vision. Just an ability gained over time. Not everyone even realizes that they have a power, but it’s a skill that is picked up though one’s experiences in life.

When I was young, my parents would fight. Through this I learned what anger, desperation, and fear looked like.

When I was five years old, there was a dog that lived in my neighborhood. It didn’t belong to anyone, but people would feed it, bring it in during a storm, or set out a bowl of water for it during the summer. One day it was found in the street, lying still. I looked around at the faces around me and learned what sadness, grief, and -in some cases-indifference looked like.

When I was twelve I moved to a new school. At this point I knew what people were feeling based on their body language. One of my previous teachers had told me that I was very empathetic. I told myself that this was my superpower. Like mind reading, but a roundabout way of doing so. I knew when people were feeling happy, afraid, tired, annoyed. And I was proud of my superpower.

I was ostracized almost immediately upon arriving at this new school. I was the weird new kid. I smelled like ash and was covered in strange yellow and purple spots. No one offered to sit with me at lunch. Written upon their faces I could clearly see confusion, disgust, and weariness. I tried not to let it bother me to much, they would come around. Wouldn’t they?

The last bell had just rang, and I was about to go home when I heard someone behind me say, “Joan?”

I turned to see my home room teacher. I looked at her expectantly, but I wasn’t sure if I should speak or not. Her face was kind, but her brow was creased. I tried to decided what she was feeling. Concern? Pity? Yes to both, but there was something more.

“Yes, Ma’am?” I asked cautiously.

“I are you alright? Would you like to talk about anything? I noticed that you seemed nervous towards the other students.”

No, I corrected in my head, I was observing them.

Instead I said, “I think that they were more nervous towards me than the other way around.”

Again that emotion that I couldn’t place flashed across her face, “I noticed that you have a lot of bruises. Is everything alright?”

I wasn’t expecting this in the slightest. “Yeah, I-um-I’m just really clumsy. I fall down, a lot.”

Anger? That didn’t fit. “Okay, I just wanted to let you know that if you need to talk about anything, I’m here.”

I didn’t take her up on her offer for a long time, but eventually, I realized what emotion she was feeling. I had never seen it before, but I was surprised at how it changed my life. She showed me compassion.