I choked

I choked during the most important presentation of my life.

This month, the culmination of weeks of hard work manifested into a strategy presentation to the United Nations Youth Envoy, Jayathma Wickramanayake. The presentation started smoothly, but I was tense. When presenting my third proposition, I noticed Jayathma shaking her head side to side. I immediately froze, thinking that she disliked my most audacious suggestion.

After the presentations, I was upset. I had let something simple get the best of me. Despite my emotions, I decided to introduce myself to Jayathma and ask her for feedback on my presentation.

After introductions and small talk, I asked Jayathma for her reaction to my third proposition, explaining that I noticed her shake her head no. To my surprise, she started laughing along with her team. She then told me that in Sri Lanka (her country of origin), people shake their heads when they are interested in a conversation. Her team chuckled along, chiming in to say that they had experienced the same dread as me in the past.

I’m proud of myself for biting my lip and asking for feedback. While this situation turned out uniquely comical, I always want to to learn from my successes and failures and form relationships with people around me while doing so.

Simon Calem