One month ago, a Professor at college called me up. He wanted me to present a lecture to his class, talking about what technology would be like in the future.

I really liked the idea! Technology is something I work with every day. At Intek, we use state-of-the-art software and robotics to automate routine tasks and solve complex engineering problems.

But there was one thing that haunted me about the whole idea…

Public speaking.

As I have blogged about some time ago, I had attended a course on public speaking a while back. The course had helped me conquer my fear once and for all, so I knew I had the right skills to pull this off.

But somehow, I still felt hesitant to say yes…

I called up my mentor and asked his opinion about it. He replied with a simple question, “What is it that you are afraid of?”

At that point in time, there was nothing that came to mind. There was nothing that I could think of that was holding me back. But yet, I kept making these lame excuses, such as how long the drive down there would be, or the fact that my schedule was already so busy.

But my mentor knew that there was something lurking deeper, so he advised me to sleep on it and come back to him the next day.

And so I did.

Guess what… When I sat down to think it over after a good night’s rest, it hit me. I wasn’t afraid of public speaking or traveling or anything of the kind.

The thing that I was afraid of… was going back to college and being among students once again.

You see, back at college (and also every school I attended before that), I had been nothing but a wallflower. People were not taking much notice of things I said or did, so I just spent my days alone.

And some of it was my own fault, too. After a while, it became my comfort zone – the place I felt at home in. And so I was always trying my best not to draw too much attention to myself. I was very shy and never tried to speak up…

If you compare that to my current situation, you will see an entirely different story. Today, I am a manager at my firm where I head an entire workforce. I am a mother, loved by my children and cherished by my husband.

The things I have today were too precious for me. I could not bring myself as far as to go back to college, fearing that I would fall back into my old self once again.

So looking back on those earlier years now, I realized that they did not bring me much joy. It was those years that gave me a fear of public speaking and made me terrified of standing in front of an audience.

But I am older now. I am working hard to be the real ME and present MYSELF to the world! My situation is much different now than what it was years ago.

So I decided to say yes!

I would not have the less confident and shy girl take control again within me.

So I went… and it was an experience beyond amazing! The lecture went well and the students were deeply engaged with what I had to say! I really enjoyed going back to a college and shining my light.

And afterwards, I was so proud of the fact that, once again, I had conquered my old wallflower Anita.