What's the challenge?
To present my thesis in front of a huge crowd.
What are you afraid of?
I'm afraid of screwing up, letting my teammates down, letting myself down.
How was the experience?
A year ago I moved to NYC to start my masters in Branding at SVA. I did everything in my power to get into this program of 29 people and I was determined to give my 100% everyday. I knew that in the last day of the program I had to present my thesis. I went last year to watch the previous class present and I was fine with that idea. On June 1st I started working with my thesis team on re-positioning McDonald's, a brand that has fallen out of pace with culture. For 6 weeks, we worked day and night on a plan to bring McDonald's back to the top and created an amazing presentation. The day arrived and my anxiety was eating me alive. I'm not very good at memorizing lines, but when English is not your first language you better learn word by word to make sure the vocabulary is right. I was more nervous than ever before, I only had one chance to get my presentation right and I wanted to make everyone proud, mostly myself. Out of the 76 fears I've faced so far, this was the scariest one. When I started presenting my heart was about to jump off my chest and my voice was a bit shaky at first. But then, I realized that it was up to me to own the stage and the moment. Words and thoughts started to align and I delivered my ideas the way I wanted to. I'm proud of myself and my teammates! I would totally do it all over again. Bye, bye school, thank you for the best year of my life so far.
Special thanks to my brother for filming and editing this once in a lifetime experience.