The Girl With a Head

It was two weeks before our class assembly and my teacher was selecting students for the same. My friend was elated as she got picked for announcing the weather updates. I was a bit jealous at first, but it was fine as I knew I would never stand a chance anyway. Then it came to the most important part of the selections. "Hmm, who should I pick for delivering the speech?" Miss said as she took a 180-degree glance over the whole room. And then it happened. Her eyes met mine, and she picked ME! I know right, I still can't believe it to this date! I was very excited and as soon as I went home I told my Dad all about it. He helped me draft a speech and taught me how to deliver it in an amazing manner. I couldn't sleep that night. All I could picture was me standing on that stage beaming with joy, as more than 500 students clapped for me. The next day, Miss reviewed our content, and she was really impressed with mine. It was going all as planned. From being a shy and introverted girl who had never known more than two people her whole life, I would become "the girl who gave that amazing speech". But it isn't always how it seems to be. We had our first practice scheduled for the next day and as this day was coming to an end, my stage fright and shy nature started taking the better of me. During the practice, I could barely speak the first two words of my speech and went blank. I felt like crying. I wanted to run away. People were staring. I felt trapped. Miss consoled me and ensured that it was just a practice and that it would get better. She asked me to give it one more try. I took a deep breath and started again. I spoke the first few lines very confidently and I could sense my teacher letting out a sigh of relief. But, no, it was too early for that. It hit me again. And just like the previous try, my mind went blank. "I can't", that's all I was able to say to her. At this point, I guess even she was tired of me as she let me go and handed my speech to another girl; yes my speech, the same speech me and my father spent hours writing. I felt like a failure. I failed my teacher, my Dad, and most importantly myself. All those dreams of students applauding me for delivering a wonderful speech went into the drain. I was only 10 when this incident happened. But it changed something in me. I knew I was the one who was holding me back. So, I didn't give up and took part in the class assemblies every single year after that. I am 17 as I write this and very proud to say, that I still am the first person to raise my hand when it comes to volunteering for a class assembly. It was a bit scary at first, I made a fool of myself a couple of times on stage, and had to convince my teachers to give me " a last chance" once again. But, it was because of that, that I am what I am today. I have won a couple of elocution, extempore, and debate competitions and am a proud member of the Student Council. How I got into the Student Council is a very interesting story. I had to give an impromptu speech on a topic that was allotted to me randomly. And after I was done with my speech I received a message from my junior saying "I heard yours was the best speech, is that true?" Well I guess, it was true as I received a notice the next day, saying "You are appointed as the Head Girl of the school because you showed the necessary resilience, academic excellence, active participation in extra curricular events and most importantly, the required confidence." I am now known as "The Girl With a Head" in my Computer Science class because the teacher, my favorite teacher to be precise, often calls me that jokingly. That word, "confidence" would never have been there in my appointment letter had I not dreamt as a 10-year-old of being what I am today. I no longer have stage fright, in fact, I love being on stage and my dream job is to be a motivational speaker!