Anahi Ruiz Moncada shares about how she overcame her performance anxiety.
Stepping onto the stage as Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet was nerve-wracking especially because I was supposed to be the understudy. I only had two weeks of practice before opening night. This definitely wasn’t what I imagined when I decided to sign up for drama club.
In my sophomore year, I took Spanish for Spanish speakers in a class where there are at least three oral presentations in Spanish in front of our class. When it was my turn to present, I felt a paralyzing fear with all the lights off and the only light of the projector allowing me to see it felt like I was going to be dissected. I started to stumble over my words and my friend noticed and went to hold my hand until the presentation was over.
At the end of the day while I was lying in my bed reflecting on my school day, I decided that I couldn’t stay like this. I decided to look up how I could improve.
I started practicing in front of the mirror and a jury of stuffed animals with a blue stuffed rabbit, Ramòn as the judge. After getting comfortable speaking to Ramòn I decided to start joining clubs and putting myself in more uncomfortable situations to get used to the feeling. I joined drama as a final hurrah to my journey to be a master at public speaking. I was cast as Balthasar, Romeo’s dedicated servant…a character with two lines – I could handle that! But then because the show must go on, on the night of the show I had to step out as Tybalt, one of the main characters.