I used to be the shyest person in the world. I hid1my elder sister whenever I had to speak to a stranger. When asked to speak in class, I could hardly2, much less speak. Even among the few friends I had, my high, timid (怯怯的) voice earned me jokes —about being a girl.
Then in the seventh grade, my sister suggested I3voice lessons. After considering it for a short time, I did. I began a series of vocal exercises.
After exercising a lot, I finally gained4in my voice.
A few months later, I was asked to sing for some retired people, I thought I would do better than before5the voice lessons. I opened my mouth and —nothing. I couldn't remember the6! My face turned hot. The kind pianist whispered a prompt (提示), and I remembered just enough to keep singing. Then the thought struck me: I've already embarrassed (尴尬) myself enough. There's really nothing else to 7. So in my second song, I just relaxed and felt the energy of the song lift me. And I did much better.
After that, I started singing to myself as 8 as I could in my own room. That's something I would never have done before. One classmate even said that I 9be in the school's talent show.
I am not a shy person 10. Singing has made me more outgoing. Today, I can also stand in front of the whole class and give a big speech. I am proud of myself.
