A time that I have had to be brave.

A time when I had to be brave was when I had to give a speech to my entire high school for an Black History Month. At that time I was in the twelfth grade and I was beginning to find my voice. In the past, I had done other things and participated in activities where I had to speak to a large crowd or audience but none came close to talking to my school. I remember when my history teacher gave me the speech that I was going to present to my school. As I looked it over the speech and I began to become nervous. My teacher saw my anxious look and encouraged me. I still felt anxious about it. I was so anxious about giving the speech that I waited till the day before to practice. I even waited till the day of to rehearse how I was going to read this long speech. My boyfriend and were together during this time and he saw that I was extremely nervous about giving the speech. He came up to me, as I was pacing around the perimeter of the school gym, and told me that I could give the speech. His encouragement did make me feel a little bit better but still… I was nervous. Soon, the Black history event started and I found myself having a slight panic attack. I watched as majority of the students and staff shuffled into the gym. Once everyone was seated in the stands, the event started. My black girlfriends were also giving a type of speech in front of the school and they were the first ones to do so. After my friend Mecca had given her speech, I was next. I started off by telling everyone that I was nervous and that I might mess up along the way. I told them to have patience with me. However, as I was giving the speech, I found that I articulated myself well and I never messed up once. My voice was strong and I began to feel confident in my abilities to speak. When I had finished the whole gym roared with applauses and praises. Teachers, staff, and even the principal had congratulated me on talking so well. Even though I had a lot of anxiety when preparing for the speech, I still decided to do and I did so, flawlessly.