The piano accompaniment began and I started to sing; UC - TALENT (Personal Statement)

Here is my essay for the UC application personal statement. I think I have the right idea but any comments would be greatly appreciated! It is my essay to the second prompt.

Tell us about a personal quality, talent, accomplishment, contribution or experience that is important to you. What about this quality or accomplishment makes you proud, and how does it relate to the person you are?

The piano accompaniment began and I started to sing. I found my nerves to be unbearable and I felt my head go down, unable to face the daunting audience, and the voice projecting from me was quiet, and lacking passion and excitement. Soon after this day I quit voice lessons, in hopes of never having to experience another performance again.

I was ten years old and I had just performed in my first singing recital. As I grew older, my fear of facing an audience was apparent. Even with oral presentations at school I struggled and always tried to get out of them or minimize the amount of speaking I had to do. In some cases there was no easy way out, and I had to endure the agonizing process, chipping away my self-esteem a little more each with each time. I still loved to sing and was saddened when I thought I would never be able to perform again just because I get nervous.

Halfway into my sophomore year of high school, my parents made the bold decision of sending my sister and I to a boarding school in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Living in Argentina has showed me many things, and one is that you can not be afraid to speak your mind. Argentinians have a true talent for public speaking, and are known to "chamuyar," a word commonly used in the country, which describes how Argentinians can simply appear knowledgeable without having any background on a subject. Moreover, the culture of the people was reflected in the school I attended. It was my first week at St. Georges College and I already had two oral presentations I needed to prepare for the upcoming week. I had just started my new school and fear and anxiety had already started to take over.

The first couple of months were not easy and it took time for me to adjust to the different lifestyle; I was far away from home and without parents, living in a boarding house, not a Spanish speaker yet surrounded by a Spanish-speaking culture. As enjoyable the experience was adapting to the teaching methods was overwhelming. However, as I grew accustomed to the culture and my surroundings, I gained a new appreciation towards the traditions and edifice of St. Georges College.

Being here, I could no longer free myself from the burden of public speech and I was forced to conquer my fear. Instead of telling myself I was going to fail even before the presentation, I had the motivation to practice speaking, over and over again, until there was no possibility for failure. This change of mindset encouraged me to audition for the senior choir. I got in and this past year I have earned a solo; it was my first time singing in front of an audience by myself since the tramatic 10-year-old experience, and I felt like I was ready to give it another try. On stage this time around I felt like a different person. I let my love for song overpower my affliction of stage fright and I performed, this time with passion and sheer excitement.

Moreover, my next oral presentation was on renewable energy-a subject I did not particularly find interesting, but I think my newfound ability to "chamuyar" was demonstrated to my classmates.

I started feeling nerves and couldn't face the daunting audience. My voice was flat and lacked confidence, passion or excitement.


After that day I quit my voice training classes in hope of avoiding another such embarrassing performance again.


As I grew older, my stage phobia became more apparent. ... stage phobia means fear of speaking in public

Thank you!