Taylor Swift once said, “The only way to conquer stage fright is to get up on stage and play. Every time you play another show, it gets better and better.” As someone who’s been on the receiving end of stage fright before, I can attest to that.

Nervously waiting in the crowded, dusty backstage of the theater, I count down the seconds until my entrance in the school play. I subconsciously tug the feathers on my costume, straightening my hat nervously. Butterflies flutter anxiously in my stomach, and I wrap my arms around myself, trying to calm my nerves. I hear the words I was dreading to hear, “Come on, I’ll race you!”. An excited Fiona runs offstage with some difficulty, stumbling on her costume. She gives me a thumbs up, her hazel eyes gleaming with excitement. 

My stomach turns at the thought of everyone’s eyes on me, but I give her a halfhearted smile and quickly run on stage, taking my position. As the spotlight shines directly in my eyes, impeding my ability to examine the audience, the faint memory of someone’s voice rings through my mind, “The tickets are all sold out; it’s a full house out there!”. I swallow nervously. I try not to picture the faces in the audience following my every move and attempt to transition into character and begin my lines. 

“Mermaid off the port bow! Ariel, how you doin’ kid?” My anxiety disappears when I start talking, replaced by excitement and exhilaration. I forget everything else. The music starts. I jump up and start dancing, remembering every step and note. Before I know it, I hit the last high note, and the music ends, leaving me breathless.

When the heavy red curtains sweep across the stage, obscuring the audience from view, I realize that I’m shaking. The scene had gone by so fast that I could barely remember what had just happened. After the show, my friends and I were giddy with excitement and the adrenaline of what we had just done. 

Another show played the next night, and I found myself in the same position again. However, this time, I was more equipped to deal with my stage fright. Before going on stage, I took deep breaths and calmed my butterflies. 

Sure, it was scary and out of my comfort zone, but in the end, I simply felt proud of what I had accomplished. That feeling of pride overtook the fear I had felt initially and gave me the confidence I needed. Every show after that slowly became easier to tackle until I hardly ever got stage fright again. 

This experience has helped me be more sure of myself when I talk and perform in front of other people. I don’t get stage fright as much as I used to. But when I do, I have the tools to cope with it, all thanks to my experience on stage.