I sang my first note into the microphone and, to my horror, the microphone wasn’t
working.
I was in fourth grade, singing in front of a big audience for the first time. I had
heard a month earlier that our school would be having a talent show. I had always liked
singing, but until then had only sung in front of my friends and family.
At first I was unsure about entering the talent show. Fourth graders were the
youngest students they would allow in the talent show, so I would be one of the youngest
people in the show. I wasn’t very confident about my singing. My friends and family
would tell me that they liked my voice, but I always thought they were just trying to be
nice. I figured they were telling me that because I was just a little kid.
However, because I had been doing many dance recitals since the age of three,
and because I loved the feeling of performing in front of audiences, I really wanted to
enter the talent show.
Dancing was something that I felt confident doing though. I had
been dancing my whole, life so every dance recital seemed so easy. I knew singing in
front of an audience would be much different.
Eventually I worked up the courage to enter the talent show. After I picked the
song, “ The Girl I Mean to Be”. I would practice it nonstop. I sang to anyone who would
listen. I sang in the shower, in the car, in front of the mirror in my room. I sang
everywhere.
Finally the day of the talent show arrived. It seemed like one of the longest days
of my life. I was such a nervous wreck. Walking around my house like a zombie, I was
thinking about all the things that could go wrong.
What if I forget my words? What if I freeze on stage because I’m so nervous? What if I trip and fall
as I’m walking onto the stage? These were the thoughts that crossed my mind
as I was waiting for the night of the talent show to arrive.
After that long day, finally there I was waiting backstage for my turn to go on,
praying that I wouldn’t make a fool out of myself. I was growing more nervous by the
minute. Then I heard it. “ And now here’s Alex singing “The Girl I Mean to Be”
from The Secret Garden.”
I took a deep breath and walked slowly onto the stage.
Standing in front of the microphone, I waited for my music to begin. After the introduction, I began to sing.
Right away, I realized that something was wrong. The microphone wasn’t working. I
looked around at the audience, and I could tell they couldn’t hear me. I fumbled with the
switch on the microphone, but it still didn’t work. I tried to sing louder, but I could tell by
the look on the audiences’ faces that I wasn’t loud enough for them to hear me.
Girls who were working behind the scenes gathered by the sound board trying to
figure out what was wrong with the microphone. I could see them flipping some
switches. At my last verse, the microphone finally started working. I was so relieved. I
sang with all the power I had, making the last part of song the best I could make it.
After I was done singing, the audience gave me a great round of applause. When I
walked off the stage, my mom was there with a big smile on her face.
“ You were great, Alex,” she said. And for the first time, I believed her.
Singing in that talent show gave me a lot of confidence. Since then, I’ve been in
many musicals and have been entered many more talent shows. I’m so glad that I had the
courage to enter that first talent show. Though it didn’t go perfectly, it taught me that
even if something doesn’t start off as I want it to, I can turn it around and end it with a
smile.