My voice trembled and knees knocked as I walked towards the attention-demanding podium that stood before me. It was the first day I had ever run for anything, and it was safe to say I was terrified as my mind raced, forgetting everything I had prepared for this speech.

I still remember the heart-thumping fear I felt when running for chairwoman of Photography Committee in the Key Club elections. It was my junior year of high school, and I was determined to make my mark in school and gain the leadership skills I knew were important in developing myself both professionally and personally. Public speaking was an unusual struggle of mine; my family and friends say I’m outgoing, so why was I so jittery when talking to the crowd? I spoke well in clubs in which I held leadership positions - but of course, those were filled with familiar faces. Was it the influx of unknown, glaring eyes from the crowd before me or my incapability of envisioning the audience in their underwear that made me anxious?

Ultimately, I tripped over my words and wavered my voice throughout the entirety of the speech. I let my nerves take over the purpose for why I was on stage, which caused me to lose the position by a few votes. The pang of disappointment I felt when receiving the election results the following day inspired me to not just accept my loss, but to learn from it and improve myself; in the end, that's the best I could do in order to grow from this experience. So, I signed up to take a public speaking course at school my senior year, tackling my phobia once and for all.

After practicing countless speeches, monologues and more throughout my second semester, my nerves fizzled out over time as I became more comfortable speaking my mind no matter the audience. I was driven by the fundamental element of failure, the bat that many use to beat themselves up with when something goes wrong. Pushing my defeat aside, I persisted throughout this class to achieve my goal. This process made me realize that failure is a construct one can either embrace or run away from. Many choose the latter, but in my eyes, this experience made me realize that failure inspires me to conquer the unknown and delve deep into the pit towards success, no matter how difficult or nerve-wracking it may be.