An Air of Confidence
By Stephanie Palmer
I have never been a truly confident, out-going person and usually will stay in my room reading or writing without interacting with anyone else. However, during the Spring Semester of 2009 I had the chance to gain more confidence in many different areas of my life. I was able to take the Advanced Animal Handling class at the Livestock Center. In this class, I was assigned to one horse, Shelby, and learned to work with her and help in some ways to “train” her. I was able to connect with her and teach her many knew things both on the ground and in the saddle. I have always loved horses, but I hadn’t had as much experience working with them as the majority of the students. I felt self-conscious and inadequate during the class. I was also very fearful of working with Shelby because she was a very active and skittish horse, making me more jumpy than I normally am. However, after a lot of work and a lot of time, I slowly began to develop a relationship with her.
My confidence with horses since working with Shelby has grown tremendously. I now look forward to getting on a difficult horse and trying to figure out ways to help them improve. Because I was finally confident in at least one thing in my life, I knew I could do more than what I had originally thought I could. I made friends at the Livestock Center and actually started having a social life for the first time since coming out to college in three years. I have now started to put myself out there and not worry about looking like a fool and a loser and have seen the results begin to appear. I used to always be nervous around guys and never felt comfortable with them. I now have been able to make a number of guy friends in the last two semesters. I also am able to get up in front of people easier, whether it is to give talks in church, presentations in class, or even speak up in class and voice my opinion. I stand out more than I used to and don’t try to constantly hide myself in a crowd, avoid eye contact with others, and give glares to anyone who tries to approach me. I have gained self-confidence.
Self-confidence doesn’t always come overnight, or even over a month. There is something that will test your confidence and push it to different levels that you previously thought possible. So go out there; find something that you enjoy and want to be confident in. If you find a passion and learn to gain confidence in that one thing, then it will help you learn to have confidence in other areas of your life. Preferring to be alone and reading in your bedroom is a great way to relax every once in a while. However, learning to put yourself out there, to be yourself and let others see your personality, is what it truly means to live. Most importantly of all, people will notice that change, and you will notice that change. It lifts a weight off and you walk taller and smile more often. It will reveal to the world what a marvelous person you truly are, and all that you have and can accomplish. It will give you the demeanor and the air of having confidence to do whatever you put your mind to.
I have never been a truly confident, out-going person and usually will stay in my room reading or writing without interacting with anyone else. However, during the Spring Semester of 2009 I had the chance to gain more confidence in many different areas of my life. I was able to take the Advanced Animal Handling class at the Livestock Center. In this class, I was assigned to one horse, Shelby, and learned to work with her and help in some ways to “train” her. I was able to connect with her and teach her many knew things both on the ground and in the saddle. I have always loved horses, but I hadn’t had as much experience working with them as the majority of the students. I felt self-conscious and inadequate during the class. I was also very fearful of working with Shelby because she was a very active and skittish horse, making me more jumpy than I normally am. However, after a lot of work and a lot of time, I slowly began to develop a relationship with her.
My confidence with horses since working with Shelby has grown tremendously. I now look forward to getting on a difficult horse and trying to figure out ways to help them improve. Because I was finally confident in at least one thing in my life, I knew I could do more than what I had originally thought I could. I made friends at the Livestock Center and actually started having a social life for the first time since coming out to college in three years. I have now started to put myself out there and not worry about looking like a fool and a loser and have seen the results begin to appear. I used to always be nervous around guys and never felt comfortable with them. I now have been able to make a number of guy friends in the last two semesters. I also am able to get up in front of people easier, whether it is to give talks in church, presentations in class, or even speak up in class and voice my opinion. I stand out more than I used to and don’t try to constantly hide myself in a crowd, avoid eye contact with others, and give glares to anyone who tries to approach me. I have gained self-confidence.
Self-confidence doesn’t always come overnight, or even over a month. There is something that will test your confidence and push it to different levels that you previously thought possible. So go out there; find something that you enjoy and want to be confident in. If you find a passion and learn to gain confidence in that one thing, then it will help you learn to have confidence in other areas of your life. Preferring to be alone and reading in your bedroom is a great way to relax every once in a while. However, learning to put yourself out there, to be yourself and let others see your personality, is what it truly means to live. Most importantly of all, people will notice that change, and you will notice that change. It lifts a weight off and you walk taller and smile more often. It will reveal to the world what a marvelous person you truly are, and all that you have and can accomplish. It will give you the demeanor and the air of having confidence to do whatever you put your mind to.
