The Presentation by Allison

The Presentation by Allison - July 2016 Scholarship Essay

“Allison, you’re next to give your presentation. Are you ready?” as my teacher questions me, I reassure my powerpoint is clean and all the facts are error free for the hundredth time already. I reply back with a nod but the repeating voice in my head is telling me otherwise. Now I start to overthink, “What will the other students think?, Are they even going to listen? Maybe I should've done another topic.” The thoughts are endless and distracting. As I stand up to present, my hands start to shake and all of sudden my voice has disappeared. I can’t do this. I feel the 20 or so eyes staring at me and I feel so vulnerable.
Ms.Dear looks at me with such confusion as the minutes past by and I have yet to say a word but my face is screaming “get me out of here!” The bell rings for our lunch break and before I can run out of there like Usain Bolt, she calls me to stay for a couple of minutes. She looks into my eyes and she already knows what the problem is. The lack of confidence. She sits me down and tells me what everybody should hear from someone whom they respect so much.

“I just witnessed you freeze in distressed and that’s not what I expected from a person who is so bright like you. You have so much potential and the sky's the limit for you, I watched you review your powerpoint over and over again just to make sure everything including the font was perfect. But I can’t be the only one to remind you how amazing you are, you have to start telling yourself that. With confidence you will go far in the real world. Anything is possible once you enable the thought of “yes, I can do it” in your head. Never let others or even yourself to doubt or belittle you, With confidence you can take that negative energy and turn into success. It just starts with you, nobody else; because I can point out each thing I like about your work ethic but if you don't believe in it, nobody else will.” as her serious flat face starts to lift up into a smile, she tells me she’ll see me after lunch and to be ready to present

My most important lesson wasn’t the four P’s in marketing or what is customer service, It was gaining confidence and believing in yourself. That with confidence, you’ll go far in life just by starting out in believing in yourself. That in fact you are capable of anything. The saying “you can do anything in life, all you have to do is put your mind to it.” Is very true statement that everybody should live by. I thank Ms.Dear for her kinds words that uplifted my whole outlook in life, it changed me and my future for the better.