September 22, 2022
Today I gave a presentation to a group of middle schoolers about OU life and high school. It was also my first time presenting to a big group of people, aside from being in a classroom setting.
I walked inside Central Middle School into the main office to let the secretaries know I was presenting today. I saw Mrs. Sonja Hastings, a secretary that used to be at Lawton High. I was excited to see her and talked to her for a while. Then, I saw Mrs. Webster, who called me down to ask to present to the eighth grade. I spoke to her and then saw another favorite individual. It was Ms. Hardeman, another counselor that used to be at Lawton High. She is now a principal at Central for the eighth-grade class.
I walked into the auditorium. I felt the good memories coming back to me. I remembered the concerts and being in the audience listening to other groups of orchestra kids playing. Mrs. Webster and I talked for a while, and the yearbook wanted to interview me after my presentation. I sat on the stage and waited. I called my mom and was nervous when I talked to her. She gave me a prayer, and she calmed me down. Minutes passed, and it hit 1:30. I was ready to give it my all. I came prepared to engage with the students and talk to them about myself.
Then, I saw students walking in and another teacher I had in middle school. It was none other than Mr. Mac; he was my U.S. history teacher during my eighth-grade year. I spoke to him before the presentation.
Students walked down and got to their seats. I was ready. Mrs. Webster gave the students a heads up about making sure they don’t act out. I was thinking, “I got this. No need to worry at all.“
“Hi, eighth grade!!” I said. I started with the question of who is ready for high school. I asked people why they were and asked others why they weren’t. I asked one more person who was not excited about high school. I saw a kid pointing fingers at another one. The student was scared. He thought that I was going to pick him. I chose the kid who was pointing fingers on in the first place. I asked him, “why or why not are you ready for high school?” The kid didn’t say a word and wasn’t expecting me to call on him.
Time goes on. The presentation was over. In the end, I asked the students to ask me anything about high school or college life. They asked a lot. In the end, a lot of students loved engaging with me.
I had an interview with yearbook, and it was interesting to engage with students who couldn’t make it. It was in video format, so I loved it. I couldn’t thank Mrs. Webster for asking me to come down to give a presentation.
