I made my way to the front of the room feeling uneasy like when you hear a noise in the middle of the night. Hearing the blood rushing in my ears, I lay the boast in front of me thinking, “It’s now or never!” I looked up, jaw clenching, and slammed the podium with my fist, just as my friend had done, and in the same authoritative voice that I use in my leadership roles in the band and Top 20, I boomed “I, the great Ben Valerio, born in the early Winter of 1997.” Quickly glancing out over the audience I continued, “the ground already covered with Winter’s blanket.” Then I spoke in a slightly softer voice and said, “ My family originates from the unique land of Kenton,” and paused waiting for a short chuckle from the audience. I looked down, realizing that I had made a mistake and quickly spurted out the words “ much unlike anywhere else.” Feeling as though the whole class was laughing at me, I looked out over the crowd. Seeing a few friendly faces encouraged me to proceed. I took a long pause thinking to myself, these are people that I have been friends with for years, recalling just minutes before how they had all put their own goofy spin on their presentations. I could feel everyone in the room was supporting me. Feeling better about what was happening, I continued
I made my way to the front of the room feeling uneasy like when you hear a noise in the middle of the night. Hearing the blood rushing in my ears, I lay the boast in front of me thinking, “It’s now or never!” I looked up, jaw clenching, and slammed the podium with my fist, just as my friend had done, and in the same authoritative voice that I use in my leadership roles in the band and Top 20, I boomed “I, the great Ben Valerio, born in the early Winter of 1997.” Quickly glancing out over the audience I continued, “the ground already covered with Winter’s blanket.” Then I spoke in a slightly softer voice and said, “ My family originates from the unique land of Kenton,” and paused waiting for a short chuckle from the audience. I looked down, realizing that I had made a mistake and quickly spurted out the words “ much unlike anywhere else.” Feeling as though the whole class was laughing at me, I looked out over the crowd. Seeing a few friendly faces encouraged me to proceed. I took a long pause thinking to myself, these are people that I have been friends with for years, recalling just minutes before how they had all put their own goofy spin on their presentations. I could feel everyone in the room was supporting me. Feeling better about what was happening, I continued