prevent the others from laughing at me.

The reader can imagine my state of mind during these school days.
I fairly hated even to start to school in the morning--not because
I disliked to go to school, but because I was sure to meet some of
my taunting comrades, sure to be humiliated and laughed at because
I stammered. And having reached the school room I had to face the
prospect of failing every time I stood up on my feet and tried to
recite.

There were four things I looked forward to with positive dread--
the trip to school, the recitations in class, recess in the school
yard and the trip home again. It makes me shudder even now to
think of those days--the dread with which I left that home of mine
every school day morning, the nervous strain, the torment and
torture, and the constant fear of failure which never left me.
Imagine my thoughts as I left parents and friends to face the
ribald laughter of those who did not understand. I asked myself:
"Well, what new disgrace today? Whom will I meet this morning?
What will the teacher say when I stumble? How shall I get through
recess? What is the easiest way home?"

These and a hundred other questions, born of nervousness and fear,
I asked myself morning after morning. And day after day, as the
hours dragged by, I would wonder, "Will this day NEVER end? Will I
NEVER get out of this?"

Such was my life in school. And such is the daily life of
thousands of boys and hundreds of girls--a life of dread, of
constant fear, of endless worry and unceasing nervousness.