Jade Alexandria Henry, JaKayla Rich and Desire Buckanon were the winners of Ink Spot’s First Annual Essay Contest. They were awarded for their inspirational writing on August 14 at the Allen County Public Library’s main branch in downtown Fort Wayne.

This summer, the newspaper invited local children and teens to write essays related to the topic “Overcoming Hard Times, Defeating Obstacles.” Young essayists wrote about a range of issues, including overcoming stage fright, adjusting to life after a parent’s stroke, and the challenges of trust and friendship during the middle school years. Three award recipients were presented with a plaque and a $100 check.

Ink Spot extends its sincere thanks to the ACPL for sponsoring this year’s event. We cannot think of a more fitting partner.

Ink Spot is proud to present the work of each winner over the next three Ink Spot issues, as well as on our website. This week, we present Jade Alexandria Henry’s essay “Overcoming My Fear and Defeating My Obstacles.”

Overcoming My Fear and Defeating My Obstacles

By Jade A. Henry

Have you ever had stage fright? I know I have! Here is my story. My name is Jade Alexandria Henry, and I am a ballet dancer, aspiring to be a professional ballerina. I have been dancing since I was three years old. My mom once told me when I was little, I used to walk around the house on the tips of my toes and right then she knew that I would become a little ballerina! It turns out she was right! I currently attend Fort Wayne Ballet and have been dancing there since August of 2017. At the age of thirteen, I look forward to my continued training with Fort Wayne Ballet through 8th grade and high school and will practice hard to keep advancing each year to a new level. Recently (January 2021), I advanced to Pointe! Because most of my classes for the past year were virtual, I wasn’t sure I would advance to Pointe.

I had been given many opportunities to perform in “The Nutcracker,” but always declined due to FEAR—fear of the stage, fear of all eyes on me, and fear of messing up my part. A couple of years back, I had bad stage fright. When I was first given the opportunity to perform, it was my first year at Fort Wayne Ballet and I was afraid to try something new, so I did not perform that first year. My second year at Fort Wayne Ballet came and I was still too nervous to perform in a big crowd of people. It was not until the third year (2019), that I finally had enough courage to perform in “The Nutcracker.” I was assigned two parts: soldier, and angel. I then auditioned for the Nutcracker again the fourth year and was assigned with two parts once again: angel, and bon- bon.

Some methods that I used to overcome my stage fright were:

• Be prepared. You are less likely to freeze up if you are well prepared.
• Do not be afraid of the nervous feeling. It's normal.
• Take deep breaths/relax.
• Psych yourself up. Instead of dwelling on what you could do wrong, rev up on some positive energy.

If you are worried about something or have stage fright as well, you can use these tips and tricks to help you overcome the obstacles that you face in your life. If you work on calming yourself down day by day, you should be able to accomplish your goals, just like I did. My methods listed have also helped me overcome fear in other aspects of my life, i.e., test taking, speaking in crowds, and trying new things. I’m free of my Fears!

Jade Alexandria Henry is an 8th grader at Memorial Park Middle School.