We had a speaker in school called Duncan Piper and he gave a talk on leadership. So instead of going to Critical Thinking or General Studies everyone had to go to that. I was by no means looking forward to it, very much expecting some stuffy old person to be giving the talk and stating the obvious the entire time. But this guy turns up and he says,“Who wants £20?” Naturally, most of us put our hands up. Then he says “Stand up if you want £20.” Again, most stood up. He says, "I will give this £20 note to the person who shows me they want it.” Now right from the start I'd honestly been thinking I should just go down and take it from this guy's hand. I wonder what would happen if I did? I bet that's not what he wants though. Maybe, it'd be funny if I did. He’d taken £20 out of his wallet and was waving it around in the air. Other people had obviously had the same idea as me and a bunch of guys started to walk down the aisles pretty quick so I thought Stuff it and did the same. I get to the front and look around a bit - not as many people as I thought would go up went up. I put my hands behind my back and held them together awkwardly. They were all guys, I was the only girl who got to the front. I noticed they were all either pretty smart or the confident types. I was thinking, I don't really fit the part, I'm not the type to do this.. The speaker says, “Whoever shows me they want it can take it.” and I reached up and grabbed it and Piper let go (a little after a guy tried the same but I'd gotten there first). Right, pause. I was not expecting that to work. I did not think that I could keep it after either and I held it and was confused for a bit. My head yelled at me “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! WHAT HAVE YOU JUST DONE??!! AHHH!!!” and I was slightly embarrassed. I wanted to say “Would you like it back?” but before I managed to get that out we were dismissed and went back to our seats and the talk went on (it was awesome btw). But you know what? It was the best feeling to turn around and see the shock on everyone's face at what I'd just done. I'd shocked myself a bit to be honest. But changing "What if.." into an action really taught me to just go for it and take risks. I'm generally quite quiet, I'm the type who doesn't "do" interactive talks. The type who desperately eyeballs the floor in an attempt to avoid being picked out for things. But I was the one who got myself up there and put myself in that position. I wasn't picked out. I didn't need to say anything I had to do something. It's okay to be quiet and to be introverted. You don't need to shout the loudest to get what you want. You just need to be confident in yourself and the decisions you make. What I did could have backfired (as was pointed out later in the talk) but being able to take that chance regardless is what I think is important.
