A few years ago, while working at the National American Miss Maryland Pageant, I encountered one of the bravest young people I have ever met.
It was during the Personal Introduction portion of the competition, and this girl comes up to deliver her personal introduction, she was either a Teen or Jr. Teen. Now keep in mind public speaking is the #1 fear among Americans, above death, spider and even snakes, public speaking is #1. So the fact that these kids are up there is an accomplishment all of its own. Anyways, so you probably know, all you have to say is your name, hometown and something about yourself, like what you ambition is. This young lady starts her personal intro, “Hi my name is Suzy..” and she freezes. Now I have seen this before and more often than not they get so flustered they simple say “thank you” and walk off the stage, but not this girl. She recollected herself and started again, “Hi my name is Suzy from Baltimore…” and she freezes again. At this point in time the audience is frozen and you could hear the faintest sound. But like the champ that she is, she started over, and again after that, four times it took this young lady to get through her personal intro!
When she finally made it though her personal intro, you have never heard a crowd cheer so loud, everyone one in the ballroom was glowing with pride for this girl. After the event there was a line of people that wanted to meet her and tell her how awesome of a job that she did! The support from her friends, families, strangers, and fellow competitors was overwhelming.
It was another reminder that even if we don’t get it right the first time, we should always try our best and see things through to completion. This girl was an instant winner as a result of her perseverance!
~Matt
