Nir didn’t like small talk. He didn’t like deep and meaningful conversation either. In fact, he just didn’t like talking to other people at all. At home, this wasn’t really noticed, because Nir’s parents were focusing all their attention on his sister Hallel, who had been diagnosed with a serious illness. But Nir’s teacher was concerned about how shy and anxious Nir seemed whenever he had to deal with his classmates, and so she contacted Kav L’Noar.
Avishai, Nir’s new Kav L’Noar mentor, tried to bond with him, but quickly became frustrated. Nir was withdrawn, would never look him in the eye, would never start a conversation, and never showed any interest in his company. Kav L’Noar’s mentoring supervisor encouraged Avishai to keep going despite the awkwardness. She advised that he push Nir into opening up by continuing to ask him direct questions about what was going on in his life, whether at home or school.
Little by little, Nir began to respond, and later reflected that this had been the first time that he had spoken to anyone about his feelings- “It felt weird and different, but good too.” Nir also learnt how what he said and how he said it affected Avishai, which made him re-think all his interactions with other people.
Nir is still most comfortable with his own company, but is now slowly starting to connect to other students at his school.