Throughout my life, it has been hard for me to speak up. I struggle a lot when it comes to speaking in front of people, and while my Public Health class last fall only had around 25 students, it felt like 100 to me. It was the most interactive class I had ever taken. Each class, we were placed in different groups to discuss the PowerPoint and readings. Every time it was my turn to share my thoughts, I feared being judged over my answers. Over time, I began to feel more comfortable in the environment and started speaking up more often, becoming more confident, or so I thought.
Towards the end of the semester, our class was assigned a group presentation as the final project. We had to teach the class about a topic chosen for us. While we were able to choose our groups, I didn’t know anyone well, so I ended up in a group with people whose names I barely knew. Everyone was friendly, but I still felt shy in a way. It was also my first time setting up a meeting to meet with the group because throughout high school we would work in groups during the class time and not after.
Doing the research and preparation work itself was relatively easy because it was a topic that I had a strong interest in. But when it came time to present, it felt like I couldn’t speak. I froze so many times and all the information I spent so much time trying to memorize left my mind. I was able to remember enough to get me through the presentation, but once it was over I was so sad/worried that I was going to receive a bad grade but in reality I received a decent grade. It taught me I shouldn’t be scared to speak up because we all have something to say that others don’t know about.
