Country With My Mother, I Term Paper

My mother recognized that my lack of self-confidence was holding me back more than my inability to memorize lines from a Shakespearean play.

A certainly didn't expect to get a part in the play when I tried out, and was more than a little surprised to be given the role of Friar Lawrence (my mother, interestingly, seemed proud but not at all surprised). it's a relatively small part in the play in terms of lines, though the Friar plays a pivotal role in the arc of the narrative. In order to avoid appearing foolish on stage in front of scores of my classmates and their parents, I worked on my lines as hard as I could muster, bringing to the surface reserves of linguistic strength that I didn't even know I'd had. The play finally came and went and was produced without any major problems -- aside from the fact that it was a high school production of Romeo and Juliet.Certainly, I managed to muster up my lines and fill my role in the play better than I thought possible.

In retrospect, I rate my performance in the play secondary to a more personal victory encouraged entirely by the efforts of my mother. She forced me to reach beyond my very limiting comfort zone and strive for something more. She instilled in me the importance of hard work when focused singularly on a specific goal and the self-worth such an endeavor can produce. Overcoming my fear of looking like a fool and managing to connect with the people around me in the process was one of the most important lessons I learned from my mother. It is a lesson I have carried with me ever since and has shaped my proactive approach toward identifying my goals in life and then working to achieve them, no matter how much I might be afraid of looking foolish in….....