Dr. Martin Luther King: The Ultimate Measure Of A Man

Martin Luther King once said, “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” I believe that this quote describes that a person shows his or her true colors when they are challenged. One time Dr. King inspired me to face my fear and keep moving forward. I have always had a big fear of public speaking and the thought of it had always sent me into an agitated state of stuttering and sweaty palms. I was always nervous when I had to present in front of my class for little projects and book reports, it has gotten better over the years, but I would never volunteer to go first or volunteer at all, I would just wait for the teacher to call on me. Everything was

One of the tricks was to pretend that no one was there, and another was to not look at everybody, I will just stare straight ahead. I prepared and rehearsed, I would rehearse my speech to anybody that would listen, parents, friends, teachers. I would sometimes even record myself, and I would try to figure out if I was speaking too fast, too slow, too loud or too soft. Finally, the big day came, I went to school as usual, and took all my normal classes until sixth period by fifth period, I just absolutely could not sit still. One minute i would be tapping with my pen, the next minute my leg was bouncing like crazy. The bell rung, I put my books away and headed to the cafeteria/auditorium with my script. I started to present. Once I finished, I realized that it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was. Nobody laughed at me or made fun of me, they just all congratulated me. I was very proud of my actions and my last-minute decision. On the other hand, I was immensely thankful for Dr. Martin Luther King because without him, I would not have presented my