My first seizure experience happened in 1992, when I was in my sophomore year of high school. I was sitting in Japanese class watching the teacher write hiragana characters up on the blackboard. Suddenly my perception shifted into a state that made the room seem completely different from the way it had been only a moment earlier. All my senses handled information on a different frequency.

Our teacher, Yamashita Sensei, was a dark-haired man doing an exchange program from Japan. Yet in that particular instant, his voice sounded shrill and high. He was a blonde woman wearing red lipstick and high heels. I gulped for more air, wondering if I was going crazy. Did anyone else see this new teacher standing in front of the class? I closed my eyes. The bell rang. When I opened my eyes, I saw the regular Yamashita Sensei behind his desk, speaking to a student in his deep, accented voice. I robotically shoved my books into my backpack and escaped outside to breathe some fresh air, feeling unsteady in my walk.

Later I told my friends about the phenomenon, downplaying the seriousness of the event. We laughed at what I had seen and heard. Thinking about it in retrospect, I began to see it as a mystical and intriguing experience. It was not my last "hallucination."