Have you ever been extremely nervous before presenting a project in front of your class? Have you ever worked on a project for weeks and you believe that you did a really good job? Have you ever started working on a project at the very last minute and you believe that you did a really bad job? Do you get the butterflies in your stomach right before you utter your first word in front of all of those eyes that are staring you down?

Well, I am here to tell all of you who have answered "Yes" to any of those questions that you should all be really proud of yourselves!

Wait a second...why should I be proud of myself for procrastinating or screwing up in front of my classmates? This doesn't make sense, Caroline! What are you thinking?

The reason why I'm saying that I am proud of all of you is because you are all brave and hard-working people for going up in front of a group of people and presenting your knowledge. No matter how nervous you are, you manage to pull through all of those high emotions and fears.

So you all deserve an audience who will give you their undivided attention and show RESPECT towards you.

According to Dictionary.com, respect means: "a feeling of deep admiration for someone or something elicited by their abilities, qualities or achievements."

Now, does respect mean that you are looking down on your phone the entire time someone is up there presenting? NO, IT DOES NOT.

Respect means showing someone that you are there to listen to them instead of scrolling through Instagram, which you can do at any other point in time throughout your day.

There is a time and place for everything, and your texts, calls, social media, and emails can all wait. There is nothing that important to check in the middle of someone giving you all of their effort and dedication.

When it comes to respecting anyone in this kind of situation, what doesn't matter is whether or not you like the person who is presenting, how much effort they actually put toward this project, the actual topic they are discussing itself, how many sources they have or how many mistakes they have made compared to everyone else who presented.

The only thing that matters is being a decent human being by giving that person your full eyes, full ears, and your head up.

I am not asking for much here' all I am asking is for you to listen and for you to give your honest opinion on how I can improve for the future.

I understand that you have much better things to do than to hear someone drag on and on about a topic that you may not care about. But your immediate judgments should not be the priority. What is your priority is giving the presenter full eye contact with the two eyes that you have instead of the two eyes that you "don't have" by looking down at your phone.

In the end, all I want is for you to show me that you care about what I have worked so hard on to show to you. What I am putting out there in front of you is for your entertainment.

But if you have better things to do than to watch me, then I'm sorry! Watching me up there instead of being on Facebook must be so hard for you! All I'm asking for is a bit of time throughout your precious day to be a good person.

Maybe next time I will bring a phone bin and a dictionary in case anyone in the audience doesn't show me any respect.