For an entire school year, I have been dreading this exact week because of one reason: Ted Talks.

Each student in Honors English 10 must choose a topic and give a four to six minute Ted Talk that is intriguing and interesting for the audience.

After much thought, I landed on the topic of friends and vulnerability. For about four minutes, I will share my knowledge on how to build relationships and provide certain examples from my life specifically.

A large part of my nervousness to present my Ted Talk does not stem from the information and the actual presentation of the topic itself, but from the judgment and thoughts from others.

As each day passes and the day of my presentation nears, I imagine myself standing in front of not only my classmates but students from three other classes as well. I see myself in the lecture hall in front of the light as bright as the sun slowly forgetting my words; I imagine the judgment running towards me from the audience.

It is so much easier for myself to imagine failing rather than succeeding. I see myself surrounded by so many intelligent classmates that I can’t help but compare myself to them.

As so many of my thoughts recently are being consumed by Ted Talks, I have found myself comparing myself to others in so much that I do.

Track, grades, tests, and appearance are all things that cause me to compare myself to others.

In the world we live in today, I am nearly positive that almost everyone catches themselves doing this at times. Whether it be at school or on social media, there are people to compare ourselves to no matter where we look.

We are always able find somebody that we adore. It may be their personality or appearance, but we believe that they are the definition of perfect. We would do anything to have their body or grades.

As I listened to one of my classmates discuss a similar topic in her Ted Talk, I learned an important lesson that I believe everyone needs to hear: there is somebody out there that believes you are extraordinary.

Just like we find ourselves imagining living a specific person’s “perfect” life, somebody is imagining living in yours.

Although you may feel that there is nothing special or unique about your life, somebody finds you to be the person they have always wished to be.

No matter how much you look down on your life, there is always somebody behind you wishing they could live in all of your beauty and success.