Learning Through Life

If I had a chance to change one thing about myself it would be my self-confidence. A quote by anonymous source claims, “Self-confidence gives you the freedom to make mistakes and cope with failure without feeling that your world has come to an end or that you are a worthless person.” I seem to have the worst self-confidence in the world.

I have a passion for singing. I have always dreamed of singing one day, but one little thing has always held me back: I’m too scared to be in front of people. When I was a freshman in high school, I was in a singing competition for 4-H. I chose to sing a Taylor Swift song. Once I arrived at the building, I checked in, took my seat beside my mom, and my name was called in just a few minutes, my heart immediately stopped beating, and I started shaking. I felt like crying, but I stood up and started walking toward the stage.

I went up the stairs and that’s when I realized there were a lot of people in the crowd! The guy running the music kept asking me if I was ready, but I was too overwhelmed to speak back to him. He started the music. I kept staring at the ceiling, hoping Taylor Swift would walk into the room and start singing for me, but that didn’t happen. Once the part came up where I was supposed to start singing, I decided I might as well just start singing to get it over with. After the song was over, I felt a relief, but I knew I wouldn’t be receiving a very good score because I stared at the ceiling the whole time. In life, you have to face a lot of challenges.

Every day of your life you’re facing different people in different situations. This year, I recently started singing the national anthem at the football and basketball games. Singing has helped me gain self-confidence, but I know in some aspects that the fear stays there. If I could find a way to completely overcome this fear, I would be able to not be so nervous when I’m around people I don’t know, be a better applicant in interviews, and be able to make friends with people I don’t know. Self-confidence is a huge factor in a job, career, or just your everyday life. You will run into a new person every day.

Changing my self-confidence could help me in so many ways and also help me become a better person. If I have more confidence in myself, I will be a better applicant for a job, a better student in college, and a better family and friend person someday. I hope I can change this factor and discover I can be a better person overall.