Academic Decathlon Speech
Lights shined down on me as I exited the stage after my first high school band concert. Mrs. Tenney and six little pairs of feet walked closely behind. When I turned around, she smiled. “Great job at the concert today”.
My brain went into frenzy- I mean, how would I reply to that? An awkward pause later, I found my best response: “You have a lot of kids.”
I walked off thinking all went well. On the car ride home, however, my parents gave me a stern talk about why my response did not fall into the “socially acceptable rules for conversation”. Images from past events flooded into my mind- me, frozen in front of judges in Academic Decathlon; me, silent when asked to pray- my problem transcended conversation: it was a fear of speech.
For three
My brain went into frenzy- I mean, how would I reply to that? An awkward pause later, I found my best response: “You have a lot of kids.”
I walked off thinking all went well. On the car ride home, however, my parents gave me a stern talk about why my response did not fall into the “socially acceptable rules for conversation”. Images from past events flooded into my mind- me, frozen in front of judges in Academic Decathlon; me, silent when asked to pray- my problem transcended conversation: it was a fear of speech.
For three