This past weekend on Saturday, the school had a coffee house event, which is basically a talent show, but with free coffee and other assorted hot drinks. I began playing guitar winter, and I love it. It’s so calming to sit down and play, and whenever I’m feeling sad, or stressed I play for a little bit and I began to feel a little bit better. Last year I started to perform at the coffee house, but only playing guitar, and never solo. I was always by a friend or two. I sang when I played at home, by myself, but I never had enough confidence in my voice to get up the courage to play in front of a crowd, let alone all my peers which was even more nerve wracking.

Finally, this spring, I decided that I would face my stage fright and sing, performing a solo act. While I was incredibly nervous waiting backstage, I took a deep breath and played my song, with a few slip-ups here and there. Nevertheless, I was greeted with a round of applause at the end of my performance. While it may feel even more scary to perform and put yourself out there in front of your friends because they know you personally, you can always count on them to have your back and tell you that you did a great job.