Wednesday, May 25, 2011

From Zero to Hero

Last night marked a challenge in public speaking as I am sure many of my cohorts can attest to.
Being recognized by the Hercules City Council was actually a surprise to me. I understand that Hercules is swarming with hot issues and topics that need to be addressed, so it was an honor to be acknowledged by its members.

Unlike many of my fellow students who have lived in Hercules for much of their childhood, I still consider myself a "newcomer" in the neighborhood because I only moved in 6 years ago. While it may seem like more than enough time to become settled with my surroundings, there are so many things in this city that are completely foreign to me. I wouldn't be lying if I said that I felt like I didn't belong up there with my fellow ILC members from Hercules.

After wonderful words presented by Charles Ramsey and Terri Ishmael, I was the first of the students who had to stand up and speak. Presenting myself in public is something I am easily used to as I believe I am a highly outgoing, carefree, and eccentric person. However, my nervousness and intimidation shot up for three reasons.

One of them is the fact that my own family was there. While I am a very perky person, I trivially grow shy and quiet whenever I am in front of my family. One of the more legitimate reasons was that I had to speak to city administrators, which is something I have never experienced before. The last reason is that I am associated with a title as I spoke and that happened to be the Ivy League Connection. I do admit that I embarrass myself in public many times and as long as it makes people laugh and be happy, it is generally something that makes me feel happy as well. Unfortunately, such an odd liberty can no longer be granted when I am a part of an organization. If I make a fool out of myself, it makes a fool out of everyone in the ILC and I most definitely don't want that to happen.

I will admit that I grew quite envious throughout the night when people on the council and in the crowd would chuckle and laugh at the various things they said. I had a sincere anecdote and joke planned that I hoped would have garnered an amusing reception from the audience, but it fizzled out so quickly I think it may have been borderline-offensive.

But all jokes aside, the one thing I realized from this experience is that I am truly a part of this community. The fact the Council would recognize us like this and put off some valuable time to do so shows that our city appreciates us not because we might be outstanding students, but that we are Herculeans.

2 comments:

  1. Kevin,

    What's that "Zero to Hero" reference all about? I'd give you at least a 2.6 based solely on style for the suit you wore that night. :-)

    I told you the day we selected you for the ILC that we'd put you in situations where adults--responsible and important people--would treat you as an adult and listen to what you had to say. Such was the case at this televised meeting.

    You were no longer just a local teenager. You were a young adult deserving of their attention and respect.

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  2. Ah, because this event revolved around Hercules and the community, I wanted to make a reference to the Roman warrior himself. Not only is it the title to a song in the animated film of the same name, it also symbolizes my jump from a newcomer in town to a full-fledged Herculean.

    The suit choice was "unique" to say the least. Because I haven't actually owned a suit since such a young age, I have been borrowing my father's garments. He amusingly stressed the importance that I shouldn't wear the same clothes to a different event and I tried to re-assure him that most people wouldn't mind (let alone notice it at all), but he simply wouldn't budge. In fact, he even cracked a few jokes on the way to City Hall, claiming that I needed to be careful with the suit as that was what he was "planning to wear" in his coffin.

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