For me, my insecurity and self-doubt has prevented me from doing things that I wanted to try because I was afraid of failing and embarrassing myself. One traumatic episode that is still very vivid in my mind occurred while I was in the third grade, seven years ago. The assignment called for each student to give a speech in front of the class about a favorite country. I selected Canada and did extensive research on the country in preparation for my speech. After gathering my information, I wrote out my speech and also prepared an elaborate poster board. I practiced my speech repeatedly in front of my parents, sisters, and grandparents. I had the speech down cold; I knew every word, every sentence in my speech. I even slept with the speech under my pillow, hoping it would soak into my memory while snoozing. As we were driving in the morning traffic, a sudden moment of fear gripped my throat like somebody was choking the air out of me, but I shrugged it off. Unfortunately, in class, when my turn came to give my speech, I was paralyzed with terror. I gave the first line of my speech as I put on my Canadian clothing and said, “Everyone grab your earmuffs, mitten and scarves because we’re going on a trip to Canada!” After saying the opening line, I stood completely shell-shocked and frightened while all of my classmates stared at me. My next move was out the door, running while crying. I lost all my confidence at that moment. My teacher, Mrs. Nagami came after me and reassured me that I could do it. I gathered myself, dug deep and came up with enough confidence to finish the speech through tears. I learned over the years that I should not let my insecurity overwhelm me because when I do I set myself up for failure. I have not conquered my insecurities, but I have come to manage them in a better way by having more confidence and faith in myself. Over the years, my confidence
