I don’t know about you, but I constantly have school-based nightmares. Very rarely do I not wake up from a haunting dream about walking into the wrong class, yet those aren’t even the worst. By far there has only been one type of school-related dream that wakes me up, drenched in a cold sweat…. Presentations!

Much like any nightmare, it starts off alright, but then the teacher kicks off a panic when they say, “Ready to present?” Usually, I’ve forgotten my report, poster, power point, etc, (sometimes I’ve even forgotten to do one of those.)  Dreaming about presenting never fails to shake me to my core.

I find it strange when teachers say that there is nothing to fear with a presentation, especially when they went to high school too! Granted some of them may not have the same experiences as the rest of us, such as bullying. That seems to be the root of most issues of presenting. Whenever you ask, “Why don’t you like presenting,” someone always says, “I don’t wanna get made fun of.”

Growing up I was constantly bullied for what I wore and in general who I was. I constantly dreaded talking in public. It took me until junior year to even speak to people I wasn’t friends with. Now I can at least speak to someone, but as soon as my anxiety takes over, I automatically feel as if they hate me.  They never do, but what I’ve gone through will never let me feel confident ever again.

This is a letter to every teacher:

Presenting sucks! Cancel all presentations!
The end.