Next Big Educational Goal by Ava

Next Big Educational Goal by Ava - August 2024 Scholarship Essay

I've loved writing for a long time, and I've become very good at it. In high school, AP Lit and AP Lang were some of my favorite classes. During my first year of college, I earned the 'Basic W', a requirement for every undergraduate student to prove their proficiency in writing, as well as an honorable mention in the open category of a campus-wide essay competition. I'm very good at expressing my thoughts on paper.
But as soon as I need to verbalize those same thoughts in front of a class, I struggle. I'm not the best at earning participation points from a verbal discussion in class. I used to dread 'seminar' style class periods in high school, and still hesitate to speak up. Presentations make my palms sweat, my knees shake, and sometimes, embarrassingly, my voice break.
Due to this personal weakness of mine, my next big educational goal is to improve my public speaking skills. It's alright if I never enjoy public speaking, but I don't want to continue to dread it and let it affect my grades and then, potentially, my career. As a way to achieve this goal, I signed myself up for an Intro to Communication class this fall. It is outside of my major, but the focus on public speaking in the class will hopefully motivate me to become better at what I am arguably the worst at.