Classes, assignments

presentations in particular,

they get us so stressed out.

Let's stick with the presentations, for the moment

and think about this:

how prevalent the fear of public speaking is.

In any high school class, you tell students to walk in front of everyone

and speak,

make themselves vulnerable,

and not one person will want to do it.

Whether it's legitimate fear

or just them psyching themselves out,

people, especially students, struggle

and struggle

with speaking in front of others.

And I understand why; you're vulnerable,

naked before countless pairs of eyes

boring into your soul, stripping away the layers of your humanity

and judging you on a level beyond your comprehension.

But here's the thing, here's what I learned;

that they don't care.

The judgment is in your head.

They don't care, 

and neither should you.

By the time you get to college, you'll figure out

that everyone is more concerned with self-preservation

than whether Casey stuttered during his business presentation.

I learned this not too long ago; literature class as usual,

we had to give a speech in front of the other students.

A speech about ourselves. Double the vulnerability.

I stressed

and stressed

and stressed

until I just didn't anymore.

I don't know how it happened, but suddenly I realized

I don't care

and neither do they.

Not one of those people

have opinions 

that matter to me.

Because ultimately

we're what's most important to ourselves.

And everyone else is too concerned about themselves

to worry about you

or whether you flubbed a word on a speech in senior lit class.

I'm glad I learned this when I did;

I hope you all learn it, too.

Don't stress,

don't worry,

just say to yourself:

"I don't care".