farron /
Aug 27, 2014 #1
Prompt: Consider something in your life you think goes unnoticed and write about why it's important to you.
When I was younger, there was a show-and-tell day for class. It was typical for everyone to experience something like it in their lives, but for me it would be first time I had to speak in front of the group in my entire life. I had few friends, and always found it difficult to talk to a stranger. To everyone in my class, I must have appeared very quiet and withdrawn. So there I was on that day, with a tennis ball in hand. It was the only object I found around the house that I thought I could talk about. My I had heavily scripted what I was going to say, in order to fight my anxiety. When the teacher finally got to me, everything that went wrong, somehow did. Someone else had also brought a tennis ball, and had talked about everything I was going to say. I found myself unable to fabricate anything on the spot. I stuttered, and was unable to talk. After what seemed like a eon, I quietly mentioned something about how I liked tennis because it only required a few people to play. From that day, I became more and more anxious about public speaking, often being unable to speak entirely when put on the spot. I'm sure nobody in my elementary class really noticed, or cared about my stage fright. But for years, I feared public speaking, going as far as to skip class on the day of presentation.
Time passed, and high school began. During freshman orientation, I discovered that the school had a debate team. I was interested, and proceeded to drag a few friends into joining also. The team was small, so after some time, everyone there was a friend. The debate format was also small, with four people total, and one judge. With so few people, I felt less anxious. Nevertheless, my first debate turned out to be almost as bad as any of my previous speeches, except now I was able to improve. The tournaments were held week by week, ensuring that I had steady practice. After a few years, I had gotten to the final sixteen teams at state. To me, I knew I had finally overcome my fear of public speaking. As a student, speeches and presentations are relatively far and few between. It is difficult for others, and myself, to notice it, until its right in front of me. I'm glad that I chose not to simply ignore it for the rest of my life, as in the process, I had gotten far more than speaking skills. I had made friends, not only in my own team, but teams across the country. I had learned how to improvise, how to gather information effectively. Whenever I look back, I see how far I have come compared to the stuttering boy holding a tennis ball.
When I was younger, there was a show-and-tell day for class. It was typical for everyone to experience something like it in their lives, but for me it would be first time I had to speak in front of the group in my entire life. I had few friends, and always found it difficult to talk to a stranger. To everyone in my class, I must have appeared very quiet and withdrawn. So there I was on that day, with a tennis ball in hand. It was the only object I found around the house that I thought I could talk about. My I had heavily scripted what I was going to say, in order to fight my anxiety. When the teacher finally got to me, everything that went wrong, somehow did. Someone else had also brought a tennis ball, and had talked about everything I was going to say. I found myself unable to fabricate anything on the spot. I stuttered, and was unable to talk. After what seemed like a eon, I quietly mentioned something about how I liked tennis because it only required a few people to play. From that day, I became more and more anxious about public speaking, often being unable to speak entirely when put on the spot. I'm sure nobody in my elementary class really noticed, or cared about my stage fright. But for years, I feared public speaking, going as far as to skip class on the day of presentation.
Time passed, and high school began. During freshman orientation, I discovered that the school had a debate team. I was interested, and proceeded to drag a few friends into joining also. The team was small, so after some time, everyone there was a friend. The debate format was also small, with four people total, and one judge. With so few people, I felt less anxious. Nevertheless, my first debate turned out to be almost as bad as any of my previous speeches, except now I was able to improve. The tournaments were held week by week, ensuring that I had steady practice. After a few years, I had gotten to the final sixteen teams at state. To me, I knew I had finally overcome my fear of public speaking. As a student, speeches and presentations are relatively far and few between. It is difficult for others, and myself, to notice it, until its right in front of me. I'm glad that I chose not to simply ignore it for the rest of my life, as in the process, I had gotten far more than speaking skills. I had made friends, not only in my own team, but teams across the country. I had learned how to improvise, how to gather information effectively. Whenever I look back, I see how far I have come compared to the stuttering boy holding a tennis ball.
