From Doubt to Victory

My 8th Grade Story

 Today, while I was sitting and thinking, I thought about sharing an interesting story with you. This story takes us back in time, around 6 years ago when I was in 8th grade. It was the month of August, a month of celebrations, especially for us Pakistanis, as we eagerly await the 14th of August, our Independence Day.

Every year, as August approaches, our school gears up for various events and preparations. Just like before, I used to participate in different activities, mostly in creating artistic displays. However, this year was different. Instead of working on displays, I decided to participate in a speech competition. I'm not sure what led me to this decision, but I went ahead with it.

The challenge was that my competitor had been giving speeches and winning for years, whereas this was my first time attempting a speech in school. Realistically, my chances of winning were quite low. Despite that, I decided to challenge myself and do something new.

The first challenge was writing the speech. It was a struggle for me since I wasn't sure how to write a speech properly. I turned to my old Urdu textbooks and watched YouTube videos to guide me. After some effort, I managed to draft a speech. The next step was to memorize it and deliver it. I watched more YouTube videos to learn about delivering speeches and practiced tirelessly. I even involved my siblings in this, making them listen and provide feedback.

I have a habit of putting my heart and soul into anything I do, and this was no exception. I tried my best and put in a lot of effort. Finally, the day arrived. I woke up early, practiced my speech again, and then it was time to deliver it. I was extremely nervous, my anxiety was at its peak, but I managed to deliver the speech quite well. The audience applauded, and everyone was happy with my performance.

Then came my competitor's turn. She delivered her speech flawlessly until she suddenly forgot a part of it. However, she didn't let that phase her. She continued with confidence and completed her speech. The results were announced, and to my surprise, I won the competition. I was extremely happy.

The lesson I wanted to share from this story is that we often underestimate ourselves. We tend to undermine our abilities until we step out of our comfort zones. This might have been a small competition, but for me, it was a significant achievement. I had never spoken in public before, but I decided to challenge myself. I put in my utmost effort, and it paid off.

It's essential to have confidence in yourself. Whether you win or lose doesn't matter as much as what you learn from the experience and how you carry those lessons forward in life. Have faith in yourself, and you can achieve anything.