Every school has that one socially awkward kid who has no friends and sits alone during lunch hours — I was that kid.
Throughout primary school and middle school I suffered from a lack of self confidence. I had zero social skills. Heck, I was afraid to talk to people. If I saw someone walking towards me, I would try and avoid eye contact and run in the opposite direction.
But there was one saving grace — I enjoyed being alone.
Instead of seeking out people to socialize with I sought out books. When I was seven my mom gifted me an Enid Blyton book and I instantly fell in love with it. In the next five years I read every single book in the Famous Five and Secret Seven Series. I imagined myself as part of their detective gangs and never felt the need to seek out friends in the real world.
This was until I got into high school.
A Dangerous Proposition
In high school we had to take part in at least one extracurricular activity post school hours. I was not athletic so all types of sports were out of consideration.
Seeing my inclination towards reading, my teacher suggested my to try out for the debating team.
I cannot hold a conversation with one person, can I speak in front of a crowd?
However, on my teacher’s insistence I decided to give it a shot. I volunteered to deliver a short speech during the daily morning assembly before formally trying out for the debate team.
D-Day
After a week long practice in front of the mirror I walked onto the podium to deliver my quick 3 minute speech. The moment I looked up to the audience I froze. I saw more than one hundred faces staring back at me.
After staring at the audience awkwardly for 15 seconds I stuttered the first sentence. Then I remembered my mom’s strange advice before I left for school:
Imagine your audience as naked and you will be fine.
The advice somehow made total sense during that moment.
Slowly but surely, the words started coming out of mouth. I stuttered and stammered my way towards the final two words of my speech — Thank You.
And then something strange happened — hundreds of naked audience members started clapping for me. It gave me a strange high the likes of which I had never experienced before.
That speech was probably the worst one in my school’s history. It took me 5 minutes to deliver a 300 word speech. But that 5 minutes has been the most pivotal moment in my life:
I walked up the podium as a socially awkward introvert, and I walked off just as an introvert.
I am still an introvert. I still enjoy the alone time. But now I have the confidence to hold conversations.
To all the introverts — Don’t let anyone tell you that you don’t have social skills.
To all the extroverts — Introverts have deep meaningful thoughts they just need a comfortable space to talk.
To everyone who is afraid of any obstacle:
The best way to treat obstacles is to use them as a stepping-stones. Laugh at them, tread on them, and let them lead you to something better.
— Enid Blyton
