Accomplished. I spent the past 7 weeks for this day. I stayed up until 2 for the past 3 nights for this day. Today is the day.
Before my seminar presentation, I was extremely terrified. I found out that Padmaja wanted me to incorporate edits an hour before my presentation. I did not put in all the extra hours to feel pressured today. So, I told her that I was confident with my edits and will work with what I have.
While I was doing a run-through, I became doubtful. I wanted to just disappear and not deliver my presentation. My nerves were acting up. But, I got a pep-talk from Padmaja and that reassured me that I was doing the right thing. No one else knee my presentation as well as I did. And, I will not disappoint anyone because I worked hard for this. Today is the day.
In the beginning, I stumbled and stuttered. I felt drained because my audience seemed bored. I feed off of other's energies, and if they are not excited, I will not seem as excited. However, I tried to get rid of that mentality, and gave my best.
By the time 11 hit, I concluded my seminar with a powerful statement that referred back to my background information and purpose. As I ended, I saw smiling faces and people mouthing "great job,". I gave it my all, and my message resonated in the audience. At that moment, the feeling of apprehension went away, and it got replaced by the feeling of excitement and accomplishment. My hard work paid off.
Before the seminar, Padmaja told me that "questions are great because people are interested,". And, there were many interested people that bombarded me with questions. The toughest one was probably Dr. Bantilan's question. She inquired about how my project has a relationship with community driven development (CDD). And, I related it back to my home place and how home is different to the rural village dynamics. But, the main goal of both places are CDD. It's just they have different means in approaching the goal.
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