Public speaking is many people’s fear. It’s one of my fears. I get nervous when speaking in front of many people and start to shake up. My adrenaline goes up and I start feeling nauseous. On Tuesday I overcame my biggest fear. 

I won Poetry Out Loud for my English Class and had the chance to compete in the school competition. It caught me off guard due to the fact I thought I did badly the first time reciting my poem for my class. I was in shock. 

The day before the competition we went into the theater and practiced. An actual poet was there with us and gave us some tips to improve. I was even nervous about going up there to practice and missed a couple of lines. They told us the best way to calm our nerves down is to take deep breaths and exhale for four seconds. I tried it and it worked!

The same night, I stayed up going over my poem. I was reciting it in my head over and over. I did it while I was in the shower, while I was in the car, and while I was making a pb&j sandwich. I practiced my tone and how I could make the poem real. I broke it down and practiced over and over. I was hardly able to sleep that night because I was so nervous. I wanted to get it over with fast. I just didn’t want to mess up and do bad. 

It was morning and all I kept thinking about was the competition. I was anxious the whole day and couldn’t stay still. I had a lot of my friends help me practice and they gave me pep talks which helped me feel better. At lunch, the other contestants and I met at the theater to set up and get ready. I couldn’t even eat anything. My hunger went away and my adrenaline went up. I was shaking and was barely able to stay still. I kept reciting my poem in my head but since I was so nervous, I kept messing up. I was scared and thought I was going to miss a couple of lines. As more and more people came in I became more anxious. That moment I just closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I calmed down a bit. 

As the competition began I tried thinking on the positive side and that I was going to do great. When it was finally my turn I zoned out. I don’t know what got into me but I was able to remember each line and add so much emotion. It felt as if I was in a telenovela. I recited “Bent to the Earth” by Blas Manuel De Luna and I was able to make people feel as if it was my story, my poem, my experience. When I finished reciting my poem, I smiled and was happy. I didn’t know I could do that. Going back to my seat I got many compliments. The other contestants congratulated me and said I did well. I felt so proud of myself.

It was finally time to announce the winner. I didn’t win but I overcame my biggest fear. I know I did great and was so proud of myself. I almost made the audience cry and was able to help them feel the poem. I made many new friends and everyone did great. Everyone was so kind and I had an amazing experience. You meet new people from different grades and backgrounds. Everyone did great and I was so proud of all of us. I definitely would do it again!