Presentations

I'm taking a class this semester where I have to do a class discussion every week, and a presentation every other week. The horror, right? Now my professor wants to add in debates to spice things up.

I had my first presentation today, and I had been feeling surprisingly calm all day. I meditated, which is something new that I'm trying. I had some tea. I even walked to class instead of taking the bus, because walking is more relaxing. I managed to make small talk while I waited in the hallway.

And then it began. I felt like I had cotton balls in my mouth. I was sweating (hyperhidrosis, yay!). Worst of all, I was visibly trembling. I was getting weird leg tremors that I couldn't stop. I was like this for an hour and a half while I sat silently through our class discussion and the three other presentations. Throughout this whole time, I was imagining my classmates judging me. I imaged my professor asking me a question that I wouldn't know the answer to. I imagined fainting, which is what happened during my last presentation. I imagined losing my voice completely, which happened during a horrifying presentation that I gave in high school.

And it went perfectly fine! I worried for an hour and a half, but when I finally got up, I felt nervous, but not on the brink of blacking out. All of that worrying for nothing. Next time I'm volunteering to go first.