<p>Ok so here's my dilemma: I hate to be conceited and everything, but I would consider myself the "ideal" overachiever. I get straight A's and take the hardest classes available, am in a bunch of extracurricular activities, have gotten a prestigious engineering internship, and am not too shabby of a test taker. My main concern is that I do not talk at all in class and therefore I don't participate. All of my teachers think I'm very smart and responsible, but they all said I need to talk and participate more. Now I'm scared because I need really good letters of recommendation for the Summer programs I'm applying to and even for college. Can you all please give me some advice/tips on how to speak up and participate more? This is really important to me, so thanks!</p>
<p>I think the biggest thing that prevents me personally from not speaking up is some subconscious fear of my classmates judging me on what I say. These past two years though, I’ve really been working on participating in class and what I realized is that nobody cares about you. Even if you do say something stupid, everybody will forget it the next day. </p>
<p>Since it seems that you’re not a stupid person, all the better for you. I’m sure you have opinions on the questions the teachers ask. Just think of it like a test question and you HAVE to answer it to get a good grade. You could also ask teachers to confirm things if you don’t have any questions, or just ask them questions if you have them. Many times, your other classmates can benefit from seemingly dumb questions.
Good luck!</p>
<p>Great advice. Thank you so much!</p>
<p>What I think teachers care about in regards to recommendations is that you have a personality. Teachers are people too; stop by after class to say hi and chat. I’ve gotten on really good terms with my teachers this way and it helps with feeling more relaxed about talking in class.</p>