I Shone
Yesterday, I received a standing ovation. My first. I cried.
Yesterday the first cohort of the organization I work for graduated. It was a great occasion for me. The mentors who I had interviewed, supported and worked with had completed a year and honoured their commitment to the children. I was stressed about the ceremony. I wanted it to be special because each of these mentors is very important for me. I wanted them to feel really proud and happy about what they had done.
As I have been really busy with work, I thought I would not make a speech because I had no time to create something that would be heartwarming and I thought I could get by with a fun yet frivolous welcome. At the last minute I decided not to. I wrote a speech. In my opinion, the speech was stellar because it was a genuine love letter to my mentors.
The second thing that I think made a real difference was I spontaneously called a parent to share their experience with the audience. The parent (actually aunt) was so touched that she cried while making the speech. This made the mentors very mushy already.
Perfect timing for the video that Rxn made and I fought for. The video added to the charm and left the mentors feeling even more special. These are the things I did. There were many other things that happened like the speech by another mentor, sharing by mentees and even RD's speech.
At the end of it all, one of my own team mates, took the mic and thanked me. I was taken aback. All of the audience broke into a huge round of applause and RD stood up while she clapped. I smiled and asked her not to but she clapped even louder and in a few seconds I could see all my mentors and mentees faces looking at me while I cried.
For all those dark times when I feel like I am not doing a good job or feel like "I am not Princess Fiona but Donkey", I will remember this. For the sake of all those in the room that day, I need to shine.
Yesterday the first cohort of the organization I work for graduated. It was a great occasion for me. The mentors who I had interviewed, supported and worked with had completed a year and honoured their commitment to the children. I was stressed about the ceremony. I wanted it to be special because each of these mentors is very important for me. I wanted them to feel really proud and happy about what they had done.
As I have been really busy with work, I thought I would not make a speech because I had no time to create something that would be heartwarming and I thought I could get by with a fun yet frivolous welcome. At the last minute I decided not to. I wrote a speech. In my opinion, the speech was stellar because it was a genuine love letter to my mentors.
The second thing that I think made a real difference was I spontaneously called a parent to share their experience with the audience. The parent (actually aunt) was so touched that she cried while making the speech. This made the mentors very mushy already.
Perfect timing for the video that Rxn made and I fought for. The video added to the charm and left the mentors feeling even more special. These are the things I did. There were many other things that happened like the speech by another mentor, sharing by mentees and even RD's speech.
At the end of it all, one of my own team mates, took the mic and thanked me. I was taken aback. All of the audience broke into a huge round of applause and RD stood up while she clapped. I smiled and asked her not to but she clapped even louder and in a few seconds I could see all my mentors and mentees faces looking at me while I cried.
For all those dark times when I feel like I am not doing a good job or feel like "I am not Princess Fiona but Donkey", I will remember this. For the sake of all those in the room that day, I need to shine.
Comments
Love and hugs.. :)