Ba-dum. Ba-dum. My heart raced as I stood in front of my eighth grade Teen Leadership class to present a simple one-minute speech about myself. I wiped my sweaty palms on my khaki pants and tried to remember the speech that I had practiced in front of the mirror a thousand times. The entire class stared at my trembling hands, and l wanted to curl into a ball and cry. I could feel my whole face turn blazing red and my mind went blank. Twenty seconds in, and I had barely uttered my name. Where was my courage when I needed it? I vowed that day never to let my shyness and social anxiety take control of my life again.
The example of my panic attack in eighth grade was not a first for me; unfortunately, I had grown accustomed to the fear daily interaction brought. While in middle school, being petrified to go to school was a daily struggle for me. Beginning fifth grade in a new school, my shyness evolved into …show more content…
I forced myself to attack my fear head on instead of avoiding these hindrances. I made new friends by initiating conversations in class. I raised my hand to work math problems on the board, read in class, and answer questions. I volunteered to help local charities and learned to talk to peers and adults. To most people, these may seem like simple everyday responsibilities; however, they panicked me for most of my life. Getting out of my comfort zone was extremely challenging. Each time I pushed myself, I could feel my heart race and the panic try to take over my body. However, I learned I could calm my fears by simple deep breathing and counting backwards from ten. I asked myself “What is the worst thing that could happen?” I pushed through these challenges as my uphill battle began to pay off. I easily completed tasks that once seemed impossible. Not only did my fears begin to subside, I found myself enjoying these new
The example of my panic attack in eighth grade was not a first for me; unfortunately, I had grown accustomed to the fear daily interaction brought. While in middle school, being petrified to go to school was a daily struggle for me. Beginning fifth grade in a new school, my shyness evolved into …show more content…
I forced myself to attack my fear head on instead of avoiding these hindrances. I made new friends by initiating conversations in class. I raised my hand to work math problems on the board, read in class, and answer questions. I volunteered to help local charities and learned to talk to peers and adults. To most people, these may seem like simple everyday responsibilities; however, they panicked me for most of my life. Getting out of my comfort zone was extremely challenging. Each time I pushed myself, I could feel my heart race and the panic try to take over my body. However, I learned I could calm my fears by simple deep breathing and counting backwards from ten. I asked myself “What is the worst thing that could happen?” I pushed through these challenges as my uphill battle began to pay off. I easily completed tasks that once seemed impossible. Not only did my fears begin to subside, I found myself enjoying these new