Cool Confidence

Dear Journal,

I’ve had my fair share of embarrassing moments, but I can usually chalk it up to being kind of a klutz. But today I had a different kind of embarrassing moment. I raised my hand to give an answer in Ms. Rodriguez’s class—and I was totally wrong! How embarrassing! I could feel my face turn red, and I’m pretty sure Ms. R noticed because she asked me to stay a few minutes after class. She explained that giving a wrong answer in class is nothing to be embarrassed about. It happens. She said she would much rather have someone raise her hand and give the wrong answer than not raise her hand at all. She said it’s all about confidence. I still felt pretty bad, though.

Confidence—that’s something I really want to work on this year at school. I know I do well on tests and essays and things like that, but I’m always hesitant to share my work with other kids. Sometimes, Ms. Rodriguez and my other teachers ask us to get up in front of the class to share something we’ve written. I always feel queasy before something like that—not only because I’m a total klutz, but I always think, what if people think my work is dumb? I know Anna and Joline—the reigning Queens of Mean—will snicker no matter what I do, but it always feels like a leap of faith when I share my work with others. I'll just have to practice taking that leap, won't I? Especially if I want to be a writer.