“This should be enough of a contribution to the discussion from me today, I think," Dos Santos said, bobbing her head lightly in response to a comment from a classmate and glancing to make sure she was still muted. “The professor probably noticed, right? I feel like I should be good.”

After her brief burst of self-confidence, Dos Santos backslid into uncertainty over the participation requirement and quickly unmuted to interject with an “mhm” that she hoped would draw attention to her head activity.

“I could’ve just kept my head still, but I really tried to put myself out there,” explained Dos Santos, adding a little smile to her nod after the professor made a joke. “You know, not all communication has to be verbal. You can say a lot with just a small physical action, and I think maybe the professor recognized that.”

Seconds before her section ended, Dos Santos wanted to add quickly that she agreed with everything everyone else said and couldn’t put it better herself.