The day had come… I was trying my hardest to hide the fact that I was nervous by smiling as hard as I could. I had been dreading this day for weeks and it had finally arrived. Alright, you might be wondering what I have been dreading so much, so let’s go back in time and find out... A few weeks prior to this event, my friend told me that she was signing up for student council. I was looking at the application, and then I saw a position called spirit commissioner. I thought it was interesting and I started wondering whether I should run for it! I asked a few of my friends, and they said I would be perfect for the position. I really wanted to run, but there was one thing that made me hesitant about running. The speeches.

This leads us back to where we started. It was the morning of the speeches, and I woke up extra early so that I would feel extra prepared. Once I got to school, I was feeling pretty great! I was proud of myself for trying something new, and I told myself that it would be totally okay if I did not get elected. All of the candidates for student council had to go to the gym early so that we could practice for the last time. That’s when the nerves kicked in. My friend and I were freaking out together, and I was honestly so happy to have someone to be nervous with, because you know you aren’t the only one extremely scared.

The speeches began, and at this point, I just wanted to go up and get it over with. I was as nervous as I was the day we got our acceptance letters for high school. The whole freshmen class seemed like judges, taking in every word I said. Finally after what felt like forever and a half, I went up and I said my speech! I tried to be as enthusiastic as I could be without making it obvious that I was nervous. In the end, I felt really good about it! All my friends told me I did well, and so did people I didn’t even know well, which was very encouraging! At the end of the school day, all the candidates for student council had to meet in a classroom where you were told if you were elected or not. Before going in, I told myself everything was going to be okay! So we all sat down, and the names of the elected candidates were called out. The moment I was waiting for.. I made it! I got one of the positions! I was as happy as a child on Christmas morning! I was not only happy that I got a position, but I was proud of myself for doing something that scared me, and for overcoming it! It was all worth it in the end. One of my favorite quotes is “Do one thing everyday that scares you” said by Eleanor Roosevelt, and I now try to live by it. Public speaking is actually one of the things in life that scare people the most, surprisingly, and it is just something that takes getting used to. I was more that happy that I did something that scared me, and stuck with it.