In the beginning, everything looked fine. I was nominated to give a speech in the Riobamba theater, representing Unidad Educativa Carlos Cisneros for the “Good Neighbor” event. I felt nervous but also excited. My teacher had written what I should say, and I thought it would be easy to memorize it.

We had a week to prepare. Every afternoon, I was practicing in front of the mirror. My mother and brother said things like, "You will do amazing!" and "You speak better than some politicians!" I had been repeating the speech so much that even my big brother almost memorized it too.

Shortly after that, the day of the event arrived. When I entered the theater, my heart started to beat so fast. The lights were so bright, the stage looked bigger than I imagined, and the microphone seemed like a giant.

When they called my name, I walked to the center. I took a breath and looked at the audience… but suddenly, I forgot everything. The whole speech disappeared from my head! I think my teacher would be very surprised, maybe even disappointed when he found out that I was not talking about what he had written. I remember thinking: "What now? I am in trouble."

So I started improvising. I told a simple story about a day I saw people working together to clean up trash in a rural area near my house. I was surprised by how everyone, even strangers, pitched in, realizing the help was needed. "Human beings aren't perfect, but sometimes they can do things right," I thought. It was not perfect, but I transformed the story in something that could be considered a public speaking performance.

A little while later, when I finished, there was a silence. But then, people clapped. A jury member smiled at me, and I thought that he expressed with his eyes, "That was a very sincere message." 

I couldn't believe it. Even without any prepared words, everything went well. At that moment, I just spoke, without really thinking too much about what to say. But in the end, it was better than I imagined. As someone who likes to be in control of things, I learned that the unexpected can sometimes give us the best stories to tell.