In high school, I loved writing poetry. I still do to this day, but I had a particular passion for it during my high school years. And my high school offered something I was incredibly enthusiastic to experience — open mics. These open mics happened about every month to month and half. I was a freshman at the time, and I saw a poster for the first one of the year in the hallway. I had never read my poetry to other people before as I suffered from severe anxiety and stage fright. But I wanted to hear other people’s poems so I went.
I sat down in the front row, well before the allotted start time. I had the notebook I wrote all my poems in on my lap if for some reason I did feel like sharing. A senior sat down next to me and introduced herself to me. She asked if I was going to be reading anything and I went quiet. Pretty much everything in my body was screaming “no,” but for some reason I uttered a “yes” instead. In no way was I mentally prepared to go up in front of a bunch of people I didn’t know and read my poems, but I told her I would anyway.
I remember eventually standing up and walking to the microphone at the front of the room. I felt like I was going to throw up or pass out right there in front of everybody. I introduced myself, and read through my poem for the first time in front of anyone ever. After the last word, the room went quiet for a brief moment before applause erupted. It was a feeling I had never experienced before. The very same senior who sat down next to me turned out to be the president of the poetry committee at my school and she told me that I was truly gifted and asked me to join their club.
I continued writing poetry all throughout high school and attending open mics whenever they happened. Over the course of a year alone, I went from absolutely despising public speaking and presentations to loving it. To this day, I am at my most comfortable in front of a room talking to people. Had I never said yes all those years ago, I don’t know if I would be able to say that.
