This guest post was written in response to workshops that Hilary ran at the YSEALI conference in Singapore this past December.
Do you remember [a student] who had “stage fright” during the commitment presentation? At that time, It was hard for her to catch her breath and calm down. Every time she looked at the audience, she became nervous again. So, she forgot what to say and what to explain. Even though she was done presenting her plan that time, she still had goosebumps and was unable to breath normally until….
“You survived.”
Two words that came out from your mouth.
To her.
Magically, those two words calmed her down and she was able to see things clearly (before she went up to the stage).
Then, she realized.
Those are her magic words.
“You survived.”
“I will survive.”
Those magic words make her calm & able to convince herself that she can do it.
Yesterday, she was asked by her boss to present about what she learned from the YSEALI workshop at Singapore. She was nervous. Again.
“I will survive. You survived.” She said that to herself before she started her presentation. Things went well – so well that her boss gave her compliments about her confidence in delivering and explaining her topics. Her boss even encouraged her to join more courses like YSEALI and wanted her to keep spreading what she learned to other youth and peers.
She was so happy and in her mind, she knew you, Hilary, were the reason why.
That “stage fright” lady is me. I am Zanti; I am one of your mentees.
I thank you for all your support and for always being positive in everything that I did, despite knowing that, at the time, I couldn’t present my plan smoothly. You were there for me saying “you survived,” and it changed my perception about myself.
Again, thank you.
I survived.
written by Zanti Samsi
