reflections

Ciao!

So I presented my TED Talk on Monday, and I have to say I was extremely nervous the entire day right up until I walked on stage. I realized once I was up there that no matter how much I convinced myself I was completely and entirely unprepared, I realized that I had it. The fact that all of the lights were out save for a single spotlight was really helpful because I couldn't really see anyone and I could just pretend I was talking to myself in the dark. I rehearsed a lot that day, and began to get really nervous because I couldn't add enough emotion to get things across the way I wanted to, but I think (I hope) my energy on the stage more than made up for my awful rehearsals. I never really had much confidence in myself as a public speaker, but I realized once I got up there that I had this passion that I wanted to reveal, and so I tried to let everything else go and just deliver the presentation with as much of that passion as possible.

I've never really thought of myself as a passionate person. I had things that I liked, lots of them, but I was never able to devote enough time to anything. I kind of considered myself an appreciator of all the things I enjoyed rather than someone who puts their full energy into their passion. I felt that during this project, I began to realize all of the things I was passionate about - all of the art and music and culture and stories that had always been something I'd cared about, and I was able to channel this energy and combine it into one big project that I would say I'm pretty proud of.

That being said, I don't think I've reached my goal. I don't know if I'll ever reach my goal, because language is something that I'll always be interested in and something that I'll keep pushing myself into and who knows, maybe I'll end up studying abroad (the dream) and realize some of my goals have changed. I'm working on improving myself and expanding my horizons, especially when it comes to travel, and I feel like I'll never be satisfied. I'm very proud of where I am now, though.

I felt like I've worked harder and poured more of myself into this project than any other project I've done up until now. I hope I was able to show a bit more of myself than I usually reveal, and I think I learned something new about all of the presenters simply by exploring their passions. I learned a lot about myself, too.

I've had a lot of fun exploring the things I was passionate about, and I can't wait to see what comes next.

Grazie e arrivederci. :~)

p.s. i'm hoping to learn swedish or russian next. i cannot ever be satisfied with the amount of languages i'm learning somebody help me