It was a chilly October morning– the leaves from tall oak trees were already in the stage of changing from green to orange, their vivid colors brilliant against the empty, gray contrast of the fog that enveloped the busy city of Manhattan, New York. At that hour, the dotted black silhouettes of birds could be seen hovering in the hazy skyline of the city that surrounded the city’s towering skyscrapers. Under the skyscrapers’ gazes, the streets were congested with cars and the sidewalks were bustled with students who were on their way to their local school, Tompkins Square Middle School.

Talia Stryde was just rounding the corner, halfway to school when the white poster came into view. Her first thought was that the poster was surprisingly small and lacked the colors to attract attention. But, it was not the typical reason for Talia to ignore something, so it was only after she approached the poster that she was able to scan the words that would reshape her life, “Debate Competition for all ages, March 5, 2015”.

Deep within her heart, Talia longed for the chance to express herself, not as expected from a shy 12-year old, but as a girl she wanted and could be: faithful to her words and thoughts. But as an unsocial and quiet teenager, she did not have the courage to reach out to her dream. Contemplating this, Talia broke away from her stream of thoughts and stepped away from the poster as she averted her bright amber eyes away from it and continued her walk to school, her thoughts a distance away from the poster.

That night, the moon glowed a brilliant white as a light breeze rustled the illuminated treetops under the moon’s gaze. The crickets could be heard through the open windows of Talia’s bedroom. Talia laid in her bed, absentmindedly running her hand through her hair as she thought back to her day at school. Unsurprisingly, her classmates ignored her, the teachers gave their lectures and the only highlight of the day was that a guest speaker had come into their history classroom to talk about the origins of Halloween. But what Talia was really pondering was her conflicted thoughts on the poster she encountered earlier that morning.

“Why try?” she thought, “Why stress over talking when you know you don’t have the voice to do it? But, remember…”

She recalled all those moments of never speaking up, trying to hide from teachers and students, and avoiding conversations with her parents, who expected straight A’s on her report card, but never bothered to understand her. Her fear of talking was interfering her goals and relationships with her parents, classmates, and teachers. As the memories flashed in her mind, something told her that if only she overcame her fear of talking, she would know the true answer to her question. Weakened from a long day of her thoughts and school, the world fell away as she slipped into a deep sleep.

In the room where Talia slept was a full-length mirror her aunt gave, the only person who understood her. Talia still vividly remembered the words her aunt spoke when she gave it to Talia. She had warmly said, “The mirror reveals the answers to your hopes, dreams, and goals. What does it take to believe? Why strive to try? ” At that time, her aunt’s words were a mystery to her; to Talia, it felt like it was a message meant only for her to find out. So the very next morning, after Talia reluctantly dragged herself out of bed and prepared for school, she took the time to look in the mirror. She was wearing her Nike athletic shirt and athletic tights; her glossy hair was pulled back in a high ponytail. After briefly glancing at herself in the mirror, Talia leaned closer to examine its flawless surface.“There’s nothing to reveal to myself. The mirror is just–just mirroring me, reflecting my image,” Talia frustratingly thought as she threw her hands up in frustration. Desperately, she reached out to all the conversations she had with her aunt, all those times her aunt had given her the advice she needed.

“What if...What if the mirror is supposed to say….believe in yourself!?!”

As she considered her aunt’s message, it slowly dawned to Talia that just as she believed that the mirror would reflect the image of herself, she had to believe in herself, her existence to see the image of her in the mirror. And that exact moment triggered the starting of change that would evolve into something greater in the months that followed...

Five months. It took five months for Talia to comfortably and confidently talk to people.

First, she had to admit to her parents that she needed help to overcome her fear of talking. To Talia’s surprise, they supported and listened to her and in time, she opened up to them and was able to comfortably speak to her parents. She learned more about their childhood when one morning she tentatively asked, “So….what was growing up like?”

Her mom stopped frying eggs and bacon on the sizzling frying pan; her father looked away from his newspaper and set his cup of coffee down on the table. He adjusted his glasses and settled his bright, dark eyes on Talia as he began his life story with, “Well, not long ago (to this he added with a wink)...” and that’s when Talia learned about her dad’s cabin and the lake where he and his brothers swam all day during the summer. After her dad ended his childhood story, she later learned about the city-life in Los Angeles where her mom used to live and how every weekend her mom would hike up to the Hollywood sign that perched on the mountain and ruled the skyscrapers and citizens of LA. All that time, Talia sat at the table smiling, knowing that she had broken the thick barrier between her parents and her. With that assuring feeling close at heart, Talia slowly but surely settled on the decision that she was ready to have a coach teach her how to conquer her fear of talking; she knew that it was also the time to open up to debating...

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Talia”, Mr. Turner politely said.

As Talia shook his large, warm hand that wrapped fully around her hand, Talia carefully looked him over. He was a large man and had a potbelly for a stomach. His face was half covered with his thick bushy eyebrows that almost hid the wrinkles that creased around his kind, laughing blue eyes. Talia knew by his face that he was a gentle and kindhearted man. But as Mr. Turner turned away to talk to her mom, she stood there, nervously cracking her knuckles and fidgeting. It was true that she had asked her parents for a debate coach to coach her in public speaking and debate, but she was still uneasy about meeting new people.

After some time of talking, Mr. Turner turned to Talia. “Let’s start our first lesson together,” he enthusiastically said, his blue eyes crinkling with the large smile that lit up his face. Talia shyly nodded and led him down the long hallway, into a cozy room with a desk and book shelves. Her  desk was wide enough to seat both of them, so she got out a chair for Mr. Turner to sit. She quietly sat down as Mr. Turner made his way and sat down next to her.

“I’ve heard that you are a quiet girl but hope to break and overcome your fear of talking, is that right?” Mr. Turner kindly asked.

Talia broke out in sweat and started wringing her hands as she carefully chose her words and quickly said,“Yes...I’m not used to talking–but..uh.. I want to change that so others will see me as a friendly classmate and so I can participate in something I really want to do–this debate tournament.” Talia took out the copy of the ad she had printed out last night from her school website. She handed it to Mr. Turner who briefly scanned the information.

“I can help you with this tournament, but the most important thing you’ll need to learn is to be able to talk comfortably in public. That is, if you want to succeed, you’ll need to push yourself. It’s not easy to overcome a fear, but it’s not impossible either.”

“I understand.”

“Ok, then we’ll start with a warm up. I’m going to start a conversation and as we talk, I want to get to know you, so be sure to say some things about yourself.”

“Ok”

“What are your interests and hobbies?”

“Um...I really love reading fictional books like... greek mythology. I also enjoy solving logic puzzles like Sudoku–I love to swim and play tennis...”

It went like this for fifteen minutes until Talia was able to talk fluently without stumbling over words. Once in awhile, when she paused because she ran out of words to say, Mr. Turner would jump in and tell her about his hobbies and interests like how he liked to play golf and shared Talia’s love of reading. As the conversation continued, Talia was startled that the flow of conversation seemed to never falter as Mr. Turner kept speaking, keeping the conversation alive when Talia hesitated to speak at many times in the discussion.

“That wasn’t so bad was it?” Mr. Turner said with a smile on his face.

“No, Sir, it was actually pretty fun, kind of like reading a story, only through someone’s mouth,” Talia lightly commented.

“You’re right, but not literally through someone’s mouth!!” mentioned Mr. Turner as he and Talia bursted out laughing, the blissful sound of their laughter filling the quiet house with a warm feeling of joy. After that, it was easy. When Mr. Turner encouraged Talia to try out a new technique in public speaking or debating, she tried and if she ever lost confidence, he would encourage her and help her out until she was confident enough to debate an argument with her parents watching. It was easier at school for Talia, too; she made friends with people she never thought to be friends with and was able to speak her mind when she worked with a group. With the contest date just around the corner, Talia became more and more confident and sure of herself because she knew that for every step of determination she took, it brought her closer and closer to the moment that had longed for. By the end of five months, she was more than ready for the time to come...

“Ok, take a deep breath and release all your stress and fear,” Mr. Turner insisted. It was March 5, the day of the debate tournament and after five months of endeavoring, Talia was ready. As Talia exhaled to release the jumpy nerves inside her, she looked among the crowd, searching for the familiar faces of her parents in the large auditorium of her school.

During the whole car ride to the school’s auditorium, with her heart hammering like a drum, Talia had frantically tried to recall the many lessons with Mr. Turner. Now, as she stood in the front with Mr. Turner, who was giving her last second tips, the importance of each lesson unexpectedly rushed back to her with every word he spoke.

“Remember that to succeed, you need to let go of your fears. Forget about the audience and judges, just imagine that this is just an ordinary lesson with me. Stay focused on your arguments and present it with honest force. Express your emotions and feelings through your words. Think of it as telling a story through your mouth.”

Talia nodded and tried her best to smile, ignoring the butterflies that took flight in her stomach. She cracked her knuckles nervously, repeating to herself, Think of it as a story...think of it as a story…. express my feelings and emotions through words...She repeated this over and over in her head while studying her opponent. He was a corpulent and short boy dressed in a formal suit and had a proud face. Seeing this, Talia abruptly looked away and focused her gaze at the woman who was speaking into the microphone on the podium, explaining the tournament. Then, suddenly the tournament began as her opponent stood up and walked briskly to the podium. The only sound to be heard was the rustling of papers as the stout boy began his argument. His voice was loud and clear and he presented his argument of supporting zoos with confidence and a lot of hand gesturing. Talia sat there, hastily writing down points in his argument that needed questioning. After what felt like hours, it was finally time for the questioning of his argument. Talia stood up and nervously cleared her throat as she broke out in sweat. Her opponent stood, his jaw set, waiting for her to ask her questions. Talia looked at her audience, locking eyes with Mr. Turner, who gave her a confident nod. Think of it as a story, think of it as a story. She took a deep breath and quickly spoke in a shaky voice, “Ok... so when you say that zoos have been proven to help save many animal’s lives–what is the majority of animals that...um... apply in this situation?” The boy gave his reply as Talia rambled on asking her questions, constantly reminding herself that she was just inside a story. By the time she came up to the podium to present her argument, she was able to stop her knees from shaking. Express my feelings through words, Talia urged in her mind. She started her pre-written speech, her words loud and clear, and was able to continue without faltering. She saw Mr. Turner smiling and her parents looking proudly at her. She finished her speech and the debate continued on with Talia able to argue her point confidently. After one hour, it was over and at that moment, Talia didn’t care whether she won or not. She had reached her goal through determination and her family’s support. A look of contentment and satisfaction bloomed on her face as she waited for the judges to announce the winner.

One of the judges stood up from his seat and with a booming voice, he exclaimed, “The winner for the 2015 year debate is….Talia Stryde!!!”

Talia stood there on the stage, beaming as the audience clapped on. It was at that moment, after she met the eyes of her delighted parents and the twinkling ones of her debate coach, that she realized her aunt’s complete message. To try was to believe. To believe was to lift and open your eyes to the light of the future, even if it meant altering the familiar path of your life.