Something to talk about

"Now we'll hear what Amanda Howson is fundraising about"

Applause, scilence.

Staring.

Speaking.  I'm the only one speaking.  There's no one else taking.  Silence.  The only sound in the room is my voice and the silent buzz of the microphone.  The shuffle of paper as I turn the page.  I stand there for the 7 minutes that it takes to say my speech and then I leave.  Everyone's eyes following me off of the stage.  Then the conversation starts to perk a bit.  Conversations about family memebers that have been diagnosed with cancer.  The ripple spreads and that was the topic of dicussion for the rest of the day.

Leaving the hall.  Getting stopped by other students asking me about my grandfather, Chloe and her mum.

Teachers stopping me to tell me that I had done an excellent job.  That it was very well written.  That I had put my heart and soul into what I was doing.  That it must have been really hard for me to say what I said.

It was.

But I don't regret going up there.  I wasn't afraid of the people.  It suprised me.  I have a hard time standing up infront of people.  I get it where I will go up infront of people and I will shake for about an hour afterwards.  This time, I shook.  But it wasn't because of the people.  It was because of what I was saying.  The words that I was speaking moved me, as well as the crowd infront of me.

I was afraid of losing it while I was speaking about something that was so important to me.

But I didn't.

And that has been something to talk about.

Comments

[Lisa]

Sharolyn - Hey Sam, I checked out the tairotul, great job. I look forward to more of these as I have so much to learn and you really seem to have a great grasp on things. Thanks for putting the time into it.