I looked out at the smiling faces packed into the school gym. The applause filled my ears. I had done it. I had really done it! I found a new person inside me, a much more daring, outgoing person who had been hidden all along, just waiting for the 1 to emerge（出现）.
Just a few months earlier, it was impossible to 2 myself acting in a play in front of two hundred people. But without my teacher, Mrs. Sather, I couldn't get that opportunity.
In the first and second grade, I was extremely shy. But Mrs. Sather always 3 me.
One day, she announced, "Our class was going to 4 a play. Anybody, want to try?"
A few excited hands shot up-mine, of course, was not one of them.
After school she stopped me and invited me for a talk. Puzzled, I followed her to her desk. She said, "I think you are 5 for the lead character. But I was surprised you didn't raise your hand."
Me, the lead? Was she crazy?
Mrs. Sather gazed into my eyes as if seeing my inner 6 locked away inside. "But I'd like you to give this a try for me," she continued. "If you reach for the stars, you might at least grab a piece of the moon.
I realized it was time to throw off 7 and show the world who I really was. I looked Mrs. Sather right in her sparkling (闪亮的)blue eyes and said, "OK. I'll try."
In the following months, in spite of fears, I did everything I could to 8 I could do it in practice.
At the end of the play, when the audience applauded, I knew they were not just cheering for my performance that night, but for the performances they knew would come in later years because of my newfound confidence.
