I may have heard all of the cliché sayings before, i.e. “this really gave me a different perspective,” “I feel like my voice is really heard,” “this gave me a chance to express myself,” “I feel heard,” etc. Although, because all these things have been hammered into my head to the point where I’ve dismissed them as cheesy or shallow, it really hit me when I heard several students at the detention center actually say them; it’s not fiction, it wasn’t provoked by an English teacher, it didn’t come from any ulterior motives, but it was genuine. And from this (and a combination of other things, such as mental health, self improvement, etc), I’ve learned to attempt to see past whatever preconceived notion of cliché-ness attached to anything I hear because I feel as though I’ve excused far too many things that have meant more than the letters that spell them out on paper.