Personal Narrative: Overcoming My Stuttering

Ever since I was little kid, I have stuttered and speaking fluently is still a challenge to this day. Overcoming my stuttering will be the biggest challenge for me to be successful as a filmmaker.
It has always been more difficult for me to speak compared to other people. I decided to avoid speaking in all kinds of different speaking situations. I would refuse to order in restaurants and have my parents order my food for me. At school I would refuse to speak and give oral presentations. Eventually, something had to be done about my speech. I went to many different speech therapists over the years. I had no success in speaking fluently until the summers after 7th grade and 8th grade. I went to a three-week long speech camp in New York. At
Unfortunately, I became self-conscious about both stuttering and using my tools, even though I was told that my speech sounded really good when I used my tools. Now, I still find it difficult to use my tools all the time, but I am still practicing. Even though I have, for a long time, struggled to speak, I developed an interest in making YouTube videos and films. When I recorded myself speaking at home, I didn’t stutter at all. This discovery allowed me, and still allows me, to communicate easily instead of speaking in public. Instead of giving presentations in front of the class, at home I would record myself giving the presentation, and later, I would play the video in front of the class on the day of the presentation. I am able to be successful because of my filmmaking abilities, in spite of my speech. I am able to show people my capabilities in ways that I cannot do through public speaking. Even today, I struggle with my speech, but filmmaking has given me more self confidence in my abilities and has proven that I can speak more fluently in comfortable situations. Stuttering will be my biggest challenge to overcome, but by using my tools and with continued practiced, I am confident I can be