Reflective Essay: Learning To Speak Through Writing

Learning to Speak Through Writing
Introversion is a state of self-concern, the distrust of one’s outside world and resultant fear of its expedition. To prove unable to speak when it is expected of you, for reasons either hesitant or uncertain, is to realize how voiceless you truly are. And it is the goal of this generalized introvert to acquire that voice, to speak freely alongside their peers, and become normal in the eyes of their perceived society. For me and in my pursuit of voice and normalcy, writing—more specifically, exploratory novelization—was the means to a significant end.
There was a time when my world consisted exclusively of external stimuli, that is the conversations and interactions of the people surrounding, and internal monologues, my silent responses to questions I was asked. People around me engaged in small talk nigh consistently, laughed at each other’s jokes, and occasionally I would laugh with them, too, but there was always a degree of separation between us. Whereas they knew all the right things to say when they needed to be said, I floundered with conversation, recoiling into my shell whenever the spotlight was turned my way. …show more content…
Five hundred people were in attendance that night, all presumably used to a student’s regular style of presentation, but I was to stand before them and prove myself. This was a test eight years in the making, demanding the all of my writing and speaking abilities for a short thirty seconds. As I stood backstage, my speech echoed in my memory; it was nothing grand, but I was happy with its prose. The presenters before me walked off-stage to mild applause. I waited three seconds, composed my breath, and walked out to a spotlight turned my way. All five hundred pairs of eyes turned on me; they wanted to hear what I had to