Sometimes, a right push from the ones who believed in you leads you to achievements that one couldn’t do alone.
A professor of mine “forced” me that I participate in a poster competition at an international conference on drug safety. I didn’t had any prior poster presentation experience and had no particular confidence and honestly had no intention of participating at such a huge international conference. But I started my work anyway, spending almost an entire week writing, rewriting and perfecting every single word on that poster.
On the day of the competition, I watched the judges question other participants, some answered, some didn’t, while my heart was drowning in anxiety. When they reached my poster, I answered what I knew and at one point could not even understand the accent of the foreign dignitary on the panel. During that, my department head kindly became the “translator”. They left without any indication of how it had gone.
What happened next was genuine surprise: my name was called for first position that evening.
I walked on stage and received the award from the very person whose accent had confused me hours before. That moment felt both elating and deeply satisfying.
Hard work does not go unnoticed and the “lucky” push we resist the most is the one we needed the most. My stage fright quietly disappeared after that.
Have someone ever pushed you? If not, maybe you can try to nudge others in the right direction …
MBH/PS