I have a guess as to what you’re probably thinking. Why is the title of this blog, “Oh No”? Well, because that is the title of my Microtheme paper, which focuses on why people experience anxiety. Feeling inspired by my topic, for this week’s blog I will go over my experiences with anxiety as well as a reflection on how I feel my paper is going so far. For clarification, the Microtheme project is a one paper assignment for my Writing 101 class that encourages students to ponder their topic without proposing solutions or stating facts. All the evidence provided in the paper is required to be based on personal experiences. Now that I have provided a bit of context on the assignment, now I will be explaining why I chose my topic.
When I was young, I loved being seen by others. I was into dance and theatre up until sixth grade. The reason that I started to dislike being seen by others, was because I began to care what others thought about me. Now, presenting in front of others, even a handful of people, became an anxiety inducing task. I believe that the pressure of wanting to perform at my best is the cause. Before and during presentations, my heart pounds loudly in my chest while my legs tremble. I often forget what I planned on saying because the sound of my heart beating distracts me and makes my vision feel blurry. I also lower my voice and stumble over my words because I think that if I say something wrong then maybe they won’t hear it. Other times I experience this level of anxiety are when I’m in unfamiliar situations. Although recently I’ve been trying to improve my public speaking habits and find ways to decrease my anxiety. One thing that does help it journaling about it, since I feel a bit of clarity by acknowledging it.
Due to how much I can relate to experiencing anxiety, I decided to choose that as my topic for my Microtheme paper. Most of the time, picking out a topic is the hardest part of a paper. Yet, this paper is challenging to write as well. Having learned to write a particular way using facts and sources to back up my claims has made this project more difficult. Not because I have trouble figuring out what to write, but because what I’m writing does not seem right to me. Regardless, I have enjoyed writing this assignment more than when I write common essays. Another problem I have stumbled across was fitting my work onto one page. The first draft I wrote was well over one page, and at first, I thought all of it was necessary. I managed to reread it and shorten it down to a page an hour later though. Turns out, almost any sentence can be shortened if extra details and words are taken out.
When I was young, I loved being seen by others. I was into dance and theatre up until sixth grade. The reason that I started to dislike being seen by others, was because I began to care what others thought about me. Now, presenting in front of others, even a handful of people, became an anxiety inducing task. I believe that the pressure of wanting to perform at my best is the cause. Before and during presentations, my heart pounds loudly in my chest while my legs tremble. I often forget what I planned on saying because the sound of my heart beating distracts me and makes my vision feel blurry. I also lower my voice and stumble over my words because I think that if I say something wrong then maybe they won’t hear it. Other times I experience this level of anxiety are when I’m in unfamiliar situations. Although recently I’ve been trying to improve my public speaking habits and find ways to decrease my anxiety. One thing that does help it journaling about it, since I feel a bit of clarity by acknowledging it.
Due to how much I can relate to experiencing anxiety, I decided to choose that as my topic for my Microtheme paper. Most of the time, picking out a topic is the hardest part of a paper. Yet, this paper is challenging to write as well. Having learned to write a particular way using facts and sources to back up my claims has made this project more difficult. Not because I have trouble figuring out what to write, but because what I’m writing does not seem right to me. Regardless, I have enjoyed writing this assignment more than when I write common essays. Another problem I have stumbled across was fitting my work onto one page. The first draft I wrote was well over one page, and at first, I thought all of it was necessary. I managed to reread it and shorten it down to a page an hour later though. Turns out, almost any sentence can be shortened if extra details and words are taken out.
Your Microtheme is quite good, and you were so brave to share it so early on. I wonder if writing about your anxiety may be actually helping you manage your anxiety?
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Maddy!
Hello, I find it very interesting that you would choose to write about anxiety. Anxiety and personal matters are very hard to write about in general, but to have this presented in front of class takes some getting used to. I think it is great you are talking about anxiety.
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