My students like to visit me during classes that are not theirs. I have one student who visits frequently, usually making some kind of animal noise (chihuahua barking is his favorite sound) or making some other kind of grand entrance. Today, he walked in during 2nd period wearing a crazy panda mask. I wasn’t even sure it was him, except that he’s a very regular visitor and a bit of his curly hair was sticking out of the back of the mask. It was weird and creepy to see this panda head walk in silently. The silent part was the strangest part about the whole encounter, really! The student’s total change in demeanor while inside this panda head got me thinking metaphorically about the masks that we wear and provided the inspiration for today’s writing prompt.

Write about a “mask” that you wear, or have worn, in your life.