As I slowly walked to Mrs. Eley’s classroom, I was dreading the upcoming mission I was about to undertake. What normally seemed to be a short walk from Mr. Blue’s Accelerated Government class to Mrs. Eley’s room seemed to drag on for miles with the daunting knowledge of having to face one of my biggest fears... public speaking. Thats right, I said public speaking, one of the biggest fears in the hearts of high school students across the globe. Ever since the first time I had to speak in front of a class, the uttering of the words ‘public speech’ ties my stomach in knots. Now here I was, a mere 29 days into my senior year, and, once again, being forced to engage in this heinous act of teacher induced torture. It all started about a week ago,
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I made my way to the front of the room feeling uneasy like when you hear a noise in the middle of the night. Hearing the blood rushing in my ears, I lay the boast in front of me thinking, “It’s now or never!” I looked up, jaw clenching, and slammed the podium with my fist, just as my friend had done, and in the same authoritative voice that I use in my leadership roles in the band and Top 20, I boomed “I, the great Ben Valerio, born in the early Winter of 1997.” Quickly glancing out over the audience I continued, “the ground already covered with Winter’s blanket.” Then I spoke in a slightly softer voice and said, “ My family originates from the unique land of Kenton,” and paused waiting for a short chuckle from the audience. I looked down, realizing that I had made a mistake and quickly spurted out the words “ much unlike anywhere else.” Feeling as though the whole class was laughing at me, I looked out over the crowd. Seeing a few friendly faces encouraged me to proceed. I took a long pause thinking to myself, these are people that I have been friends with for years, recalling just minutes before how they had all put their own goofy spin on their presentations. I could feel everyone in the room was supporting me. Feeling better about what was happening, I continued
I made my way to the front of the room feeling uneasy like when you hear a noise in the middle of the night. Hearing the blood rushing in my ears, I lay the boast in front of me thinking, “It’s now or never!” I looked up, jaw clenching, and slammed the podium with my fist, just as my friend had done, and in the same authoritative voice that I use in my leadership roles in the band and Top 20, I boomed “I, the great Ben Valerio, born in the early Winter of 1997.” Quickly glancing out over the audience I continued, “the ground already covered with Winter’s blanket.” Then I spoke in a slightly softer voice and said, “ My family originates from the unique land of Kenton,” and paused waiting for a short chuckle from the audience. I looked down, realizing that I had made a mistake and quickly spurted out the words “ much unlike anywhere else.” Feeling as though the whole class was laughing at me, I looked out over the crowd. Seeing a few friendly faces encouraged me to proceed. I took a long pause thinking to myself, these are people that I have been friends with for years, recalling just minutes before how they had all put their own goofy spin on their presentations. I could feel everyone in the room was supporting me. Feeling better about what was happening, I continued