Confidence is a Plus
I come from a small town in Jamaica called Savanna-La-Mar. Growing up, I was a quiet individual. I have heard stories of many people who lost their lives because they were not scared of speaking their minds. These stories were to make me understand that what does not concern me, I need to leave it alone. We have a famous phrase in Jamaica that goes, “See and blind, hear and deaf.” I made sure I didn’t get involved in anything that did not concern me because I did not want to lose my life especially over something frivolous. This certainly made me lack the confidence to speak. Knowing that saying the wrong thing could get me killed, made me avoid talking so I would not say the wrong thing. As a young child growing up, I didn't have any confidence because of my environment. I remember how I would observe, listen, and if I didn’t have to talk, then I wouldn’t. As I grew older, it got more challenging to remain quiet especially at school. Many people knew me as the shy kid. My nickname was “Smilie” because I mostly smile instead of talking. When I started primary school which is the equivalent to elementary school, I met some new friends who helped me to become more comfortable with talking to people. I began to communicate and interact more with my friends. My teachers had some games and activities that would involve every student. I remember one of the activities which involved each student standing in front of the class and saying their time tables. This was very easy for me. I knew it, and if I didn’t remember what the next answer was, I would quickly add the number to the previous total in my head. I did this a few times, and it was hard for anyone to realized I didn’t know the answer or that I was struggling. I was one of the best in Mathematics in my class so when it was my turn, I could see the other students’ faces, and I knew they thought it would not be a problem for me. They were slightly correct. The problem I had was not my time tables but being shy to say it in front of the class. I got very nervous, and I would panic and say the wrong answer. Another activity that I hated was reading in front of the class, so if I haven’t read the book before I would get more nervous and fearful that I might not know some words and that the students would laugh at me. There were a lot of students that had the same problem, so I didn’t feel as bad. I tried to find ways to not being called on to read or do any activities in front of the class. Sometimes I would ask to go the restroom. I didn’t get to do many presentations or public speaking in Jamaica either.
In 2015, I got accepted by USC Salkehatchie along with a Soccer scholarship. I wasn’t fluent in English, so I started practicing by speaking in English so that I could be better by the time I got to USC Salkehatchie. After my first semester, I realized I was more comfortable speaking English and the Americans didn’t have a hard time understanding me. In my second semester, I took Speech 140 with Mr. Joe Siren, who is one of my favorite professors. The most fearful thing about his class was that each student had to give presentations in front of the entire class. He had a list of things he was grading us on which made the presentations even harder. Some of these were: eye contacts with the audience, speaking confidently, use of gestures, fluency, time, and organization. I didn’t want to take this class. I told my advisor that I wanted to drop it and she said, if I do, then I won’t be able to graduate.
Now I know I had to take it. The first few days of class Mr. Joe Siren gave us notes on how to make the perfect speech. I wrote this down and tried to learn and practice it. However, I was still shy and nervous about speaking in front of the class. One day, I saw Mr. Siren in the Library alone, so I decided to talk with him and see if he could help me prepare for my first speech presentation. He asked me what I was concerned about and I told him I am very nervous, shy, and I didn't have much experience in public speaking. He asked me, “How would people know that you are nervous?” I told him that people would know from my tone of voice, how I looked, and by me making a lot of mistakes. Mr. Siren said, “Romario if you know how people know when you are nervous, why not stop them from knowing?” He also went further to explain how to get over this. He told me, “If you act like you are confident then the students won’t look for signs of nervousness. They will start looking for positive sign and listen to your message instead.” I thought about what he said, and I worked on it.
On the day of my first speech, I realized how the students reacted when someone was nervous during their presentation. The students had a slight grin on their faces and made it even harder for the presenter. When it was my turn, nervous of course, I decided to try what Mr. Siren said. I could see that the looks on the students’ faces were different. They seemed more interested, focused and respectable. Mr. Siren's theory actually worked! His theory made me understand that I can achieve what I want as long as I find ways that make it possible. Overall, I did well on my first speech in my opinion. Several classes after, Mr. Siren gave us some more theories that would help me to get better in being confident and better at public speaking. Some of these theories explained the benefits of keeping eye contact with the audience, acting confident, and hand gestures. His theories were true because I tried them and the feedback was that I am a very confident and good public speaker.
I took the class very seriously after my first speech. I followed my notes, and I practiced pretending to be confident until I started feeling confident. While doing my second speech, I realized I could say what I wanted to say, I had total control of all my movements, I could look at anyone in the class, and I felt good. I got 96% on that speech. I saw signs of improvement both in myself and with my grades. This class has prepared me to speak fluently with confidence that could entertain a listener.
In 2017, I was messaging and emailing Stevie Minto, a Jamaican, to come to our soccer open house. Stevie recently came to America to live and was skeptical about which college to join. He came to the open house with his family and wanted a tour of the campus. The Head Coach had to leave for an emergency and asked that I give the family a tour. I was a little nervous because this was a huge test, but then I remember Mr. Siren telling me that no will know I am nervous if I don’t let them know. Just like that, I was ready to give the tour! I spoke confidently about USC Salkehatchie, and I spoke about the positive and negatives, but most importantly for Stevie, I talked about the cultural differences. I explained how college life would be different here. I told him that USC Salkehatchie was a very small school and did not have many activities to do, but that would increase his time to study and do school work. Due to its size, professors get to know their students which gives them a better chance of getting good grades. I explained that parties here are different from in Jamaica, and he might leave parties here with a new friend because parties are more like kickbacks rather that people dancing. I told him about the crime level differences and that he would not need to worry because police patrol every day to ensure students’ safety. I told him he would not find any Jamaican restaurants close by and that what USC Salk does is turn oneself into a real Jamaican chief because to get Jamaican food, then one has to cook it. I told him that people would be happy to talk to him just to hear his accent especially other international students. I told him about the numerous opportunities and career choices he would have to pick from and would not be limited like in Jamaica, and I mentioned the variety of different students with different race and culture in which he would learn from. I have to say, in the end, Mr. Joe Siren class saved me. Stevie Minto sign with us the following semester.
I must give most of the credit to Mr. Joe Siren for his Speech class and his theories. This class has made me much more confident. It made me understand how important it is to be confident if a person wants to be successful. Something I wouldn’t have learned in Jamaica because of where I lived. Now that I understand the value of being confident, I will use this as part of my attributes to pursue my goals. I feel like I controlled my thought and my actions while I was in Jamaica, and I was limiting myself to the things I could say and do.
Artifacts
Below are my artifacts. The first shows when I invite Stevie to the soccer open house via email, second shows Stevie at the open house, and third, my second speech evaluation from professor Joe Siren.
Open house invitation to Stevie | |
File Size: | 231 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Second speech evaluation | |
File Size: | 1246 kb |
File Type: | jpeg |
Stevie at open house | |
File Size: | 821 kb |
File Type: | jpg |