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Personal Narrative: My Anxiety

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I have always been very anxious and shy. As a kid, I often had to leave sleepovers and birthday parties because my anxiety would take over and make me physically get sick. I don’t know what I was afraid of, it was never anything rational. Basically, whenever I didn’t know exactly how the night was going to go, I would panic and have to go home. My anxiety also affected me in the classroom. For the most part, I was a normal, happy-go-lucky student. I received good grades, and school came easily to me. And I enjoyed it. I enjoyed learning and participating in class. Then things changed a little. In middle school, it was more common to read aloud to the rest of the class. Not only that, but I was required to take a semester of speech! I remember one night, I was lying in bed, crying, trying to figure out how the heck I was going to give a speech that was due the next day. …show more content…
I made it through speech class, and the rest of middle school, but the thought of having to speak in public still made my stomach queasy. By the time I started high school, I was still quiet, but less anxious. Maybe not less anxious, but I knew how to distract myself from worrying. For reasons I am not sure of even today I joined Future Business Leaders of America. I think some of my friends were joining, and I felt like I needed to be a part of something. Anyway, I joined. I, Shannon Marie Morrissey, a shy, little freshman, joined an organization in which I could have to shake hands with adults, organize fundraisers, and prepare oral presentations in front of judges. At first, I wasn’t very involved. I sat in the back at meetings and only signed up for a few fundraising activities. However, when I was a sophomore, I decided to attend the State Leadership Conference in

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