Today: Feb 17, 2025

Fear nothing and live

Samantha Mckelvie Staff Writer
My heart was pounding and my stomach was doing somersaults as I walked into the audition room. I was auditioning for Southern Idol, a col­lege version of “American Idol,” and this was the first time I would be singing in front of a group of people.
I’ve loved to sing ever since I was a child but never had the guts to sing in front of anyone. I would sing in my car, in the shower and when no one was home. Even though it was something I was passionate about, I was always too wor­ried about what other people would think if they heard me. What if they don’t think I’m good enough? What if I make a fool of myself ? What if I’m tone deaf and sound like William Hung from “American Idol?” These were the types of questions I would ask myself to eventu­ally talk myself out of ever letting anyone hear my voice.
One day when walking through Southern’s Student Center, I spotted the neon green piece of paper that was the Southern Idol application. I picked it up and kept it in my book bag for a couple of weeks, contemplating whether or not I should audition. I casually mentioned it to my friend who plays the piano and he offered to play for me at the audition.
His willingness to play for me was one of the reasons why I decided to audition. The other reason why I decided to go for it was because at some point during those couple of weeks, I realized I was let­ting fear hold me back from doing something I re­ally wanted to do. I was letting a fear of what other people think stop me from pursuing something. I realized that if I didn’t break this pattern now, it might be a pattern for the rest of my life with every­thing I do. I realized that up until this point, I have allowed fear to stop me from doing a lot of things, and I’ve regretted it every single time. I was tired of having regrets and tired of not having confidence in myself.
So I handed in the application and went to the audition. I wish this was one of those triumph sto­ries where I could tell you that I made it to the next round and won the competition. Unfortunately, I found out the same day that I didn’t make it through to the next round. I was much too nervous to sing up to my potential.
But there’s still triumph here. I realized that even though I freaked out and didn’t make it, I overcame my fear. I did something I never thought I would have the courage to do, and I was extremely proud of myself. Now, I’m not so afraid to sing in front of people and I’ve even began prac­ticing to sing in shows.
Auditioning for Southern Idol has also given me the courage to try other things. Last week, I auditioned for a job at a TV station. After that, I auditioned for a national singing competition. The more I challenged my fears, the more comfortable I became with myself and the easier it became for me to try new things. I’m not expecting to win every­thing or even to be chosen for everything I try out for, but the fact that I can even get out there and try these things is what’s important.
The point I’m trying to make is that you shouldn’t let the fear of failing stop you from try­ing in the first place. If you don’t succeed, it’s not the end of the world. You can figure out how to do better the next time or plan where to go from there. There will always be obstacles in your way and things that you’re uncomfortable with, but you should never let anyone or anything make you feel like you can’t or shouldn’t do something. You can let fear get the best of you or you can use fear to make yourself the best. From now on, I’ll choose the latter

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