quick introduction because let’s face it
who wants to listen to some random
sixteen year old on a stage talking
about himself I’m Phil de Vera and I’m a
junior here at Valencia High School in
the International Baccalaureate program
aka I’m living a pretty stressful life
right now but if you are too you can do
it because if you believe you can it
does not matter what anyone else thinks
also three years ago I would have never
imagined myself standing here up here on
the stage but Here I am which leads me
to my talk I’m going to I’m going to be
honest with all of you as a kid I was
the one who wanted to be a know-it-all
I wanted to be known as the smart kid or
even the geek I wanted to stand out
among my classmates and gain the respect
to avoid being disregarded a little fun
fact about myself in third grade I was
actually voted the smartest which really
however fast forward to freshman year
where I came across a new set of
challenges school didn’t come to me as
easy as it used to
I found myself constantly living in fear
of saying the wrong thing in class
because it would ruin my reputation as
the smart kid feared towered over me
seeming too big to overcome a certain
moment comes to my mind a time when I
was speechless in the face of the
dreaded class participation I had just
been called on to give an answer my face
turned red as a tomato and I held onto
the hope that maybe just maybe a sea
monster would come in eat me and save me
from having to participate but honestly
I allowed myself to be so voiceless and
I wouldn’t let myself be heard even with
the support of my teacher who told me
that I should just read what I had
because she knew was good I still
refused because I really doubted my own
abilities it’s kind of crazy to see how
my self-confidence could deteriorate so
much during my transition to high school
but after this moment and other key
successes and key failures in my first
years in high school I knew I knew
I didn’t want the biggest barrier to
reaching my dreams to be myself I came
to the realization that maybe I can’t be
good at everything but that I really
wanted to be good at something I was
tired of being afraid so
fast-forward again now to my success
story the story of how I became the
field drum major at the Valencia Tiger
regimen just to give a bit of background
about what I do because I’m pretty sure
you all just think I play the drums I’m
going to demonstrate what I really do
here are some clips of my band at the
SES boa 5a division championships this
past November which I will be conducting
so I’m pretty sure you could all see me
all the way in the back because no that
was definitely not me in the front but
as you can see my job clearly entails a
lot more responsibility than all the
conducting that you just saw I am meant
to set the stage as the model band
student that everyone strives to be now
going back to when I had to audition for
the position at the end of May of last
year I had to show my director that I
truly wanted this position I realized
that I wanted to become drum major
during my freshman year because of her
head row major at the time whom I looked
up to followed by the head row major
from my sophomore year they both went
through the IB program yet their
leadership was still impeccable they
grew to become some of my greatest
friends whom I go to for advice as I end
my high school journey and prepare for
college however struggles came when
people started to belittle me telling me
that I wasn’t assertive enough or that I
had no chance of getting the position
granted I saw the reasoning I play the
trombone a brass instrument and they
hadn’t chosen a brass drum major in
years so I let this irrelevant trend get
to me because we as teens are so
susceptible to negativity it’s hard to
have confidence in yourself when others
don’t however I just gave it my all
instead of giving in to all the
contradictions from so many people some
even coming from my closest friends I
used it as fuel to show them what I
could really do at the banquet later
that week I was announced as drum major
this just goes to show how a small
attitude change can have a big impact
and how you should let those who attempt
to undermine you contribute to your
ultimate success the marching season
this year was beyond my expectations
because I was able to gain so many
people’s trust and having their belief
in me really boosted my self-confidence
which had a direct correlation with my
having
such a high position in this band really
caused me to change my attitude and
forced me to step out of my comfort zone
I was tasked with leading our hour-long
exercises which consisted of me hitting
drumsticks at a steady tempo while
yelling up people to do the right thing
because sometimes fuel just don’t listen
it taught me how to be resilient because
I knew that I could stand up for myself
and for what I believed in and it shows
how trusting in your own abilities can
lead you to the successes and the
chances of a lifetime like getting the
opportunity to stand on a stage and give
a TEDx talk that empowers everybody
needs to have a little faith in
themselves and they need to put their
happiness before anyone elses because
it’s impossible to accommodate everyone
once you have confidence in yourself
then you can start helping others I am
so grateful that I garnered the strength
from my past high school experiences to
reach a dream of mine because as hockey
player Wayne Gretzky once said you
missed a hundred percent of the shots
you don’t take
I definitely would have regretted not
trying out for drum major and it just
goes to show how self-confidence is a
key that unlocks your own happiness and
doors with so many opportunities there’s
definitely a key in everybody so I
challenge all of you find something that
you thought you couldn’t do and try it
you will be amazed at how much you can
accomplish if you just believe find the
key to who you want to be thank you [Applause]