Last year, I was taking a course called social entrepreneurship. This course was offered through the Patricilli Center located in the basement of Albritian. The purpose of this course was to find a venture, a problem, or a niche lack of a product/ service; and great a solution or innovation that would service the gap. 

I created DEI 2.0, this reshaping of DEI was to radically change the ways in which we discuss diversity, equity, and inclusion. The weakest part of this project was my fear of public speaking. I am not a fan, which is quite ironic considering that I am pretty outgoing and play a sport where all eyes are on me. However, when I get in front of a crowd or see all these piercing eyes staring at me, I began to panic. My once natural rhythmic cadence of speech becomes choppy. 

I start to become stiff in my bodily movement and you can visibly see that I look as though I am in severe distress. This element of the course was going to challenge me and Professor Makaela Kingsley loved it. She wanted to challenge me in ways that would require a full and immediate buy-in. I emphatically expressed my loathing for such a contemptuous task, public speaking !? What kind of tortured soul enjoys speaking to the masses for fun? 

Either way, I was thrust into the spotlight, and oh did I mention it was timed! I had 5 minutes to pitch my DEI initiative to my peers and an invited audience of prospective students. In many ways I loathed this experience, my first time pitching to the class I was unable to finish. I hadn’t even gotten through the first three slides, and to add insult to injury; my peers had no idea what I was truly trying to pitch to them. 

I can say this truthfully, it was probably the most nervous, frustrated, and agitated I had been taking a class at Wesleyan. After many conversations with Makaela, I decided that I was going to turn this weakness into a strength. I practiced each and every night, pacing back and forth. Timing each run, ticking the time down in my head, I knew that this final run was to be my redemption. 

Fast forwarding to pitch day, my nerves were heightened, it felt like the opening kick-off in a football game; it was a culmination of excitement, anticipation, and nervousness. 

This mixture of emotions consumes your body and adrenaline overtakes the nervous system. I equated this five-minute pitch to a mad dash, five minutes to finish, five minutes until I am a champion! I went up before the audience, cleared my throat and then the rest was history.

 I flowed naturally, my mind was at ease. I hadn’t realized that during my practicing I had conditioned my mindset for the worst possible outcome when in reality it was a trick.