Defying the Odds by Abigail

Defying the Odds by Abigail - April 2019 Scholarship Essay

Anxiously, I walk up the side of the stage with my microphone in hand. Each step I take is just another reason to turn around. I feel chills running up my spine, but I finally make it to my designated seat. Unsure of what to do next, I ignore the loud whispers of the audience. The voices of peers telling me I wouldn’t go through with this start to fade from my mind. The lights dim, the chatter ceases, cueing that it is time to begin.
My whole life I have been considered a wallflower. Always seen as an introvert, I was never asked to speak in front of large crowds. But in the fall of my junior year, my teacher unexpectedly asked me to present in a panel for our class’s simulation of the President’s Commission on Bioethics. The audience would include parents, teachers, and experts in the field. I knew this was my time to prove myself, and everyone around me, wrong. This time, I didn’t want anyone else to take on this assignment in place of me, so I worked on preparing the best possible speech I could. The perfectionist inside me insisted that I focus my time and energy on avoiding inevitable mistakes by practicing in front of mirrors, peers, and family. When I finally walked on stage, I carried myself with confidence that had been hidden for far too long. Shortly after the closing of my presentation, the audience filled the auditorium with cheers and an invisible string pulled the corners of my lips upward. They were clapping for me. I was on top of the world and filled with such indescribable joy.
This was my first chance to show the doubtful, insecure, teenager inside of me that I am capable of so much more than I might think. I presented to the best of my abilities and proved to myself that I should have no fear of taking risks. Speaking in front of hundreds can sound daunting to most people, but I am a physical representation of defying the odds.