Sample Essay On First Impressions

Hearing my heart beating faster and faster, my palms get sweaty, and the feeling of restless butterflies in my stomach all let me know that my nerves are strung tight. Looking around me, everyone seems like they are a sea of calmness. Soft murmurs can be heard from an occasional speaker while questions fly around in my mind. I look down at my drink and back up at the room, still thinking about the moment that has not come. Waiting for someone to step forward with a greeting while hoping I can succeed this time.
Occasionally, someone looks my way. We both give a tiny smile and a small nod. However, they always seem to be elsewhere in their minds as they turn back to their discussion. Walking slowly around the room, I am still waiting for that moment that have not come but I know it will be soon. I nervously clutch my glass. There are times when I am holding my drink as if it is a shield between everyone and me. I know that it is impossible to avoid speaking. It is what I signed up for, and now I feel the need to go through this process. However, if there were times when I had a single regret for doing something out of my comfort zone, it is now.
In all honesty, first impression was never my strong point. Usually, I am confident in settings where someone introduces those who are present. Now, stepping out on my own, doing my introductions seems like an impossible mission. For many people, first impression is important. It sets the tone of how people not only view another person, but how they communicate and work with each other as well. I strongly believe that first impressions seem to be similar to job interviews. From how firmly you shake hands to how well you answer questions, even if they may seem a little invasive at times, can mean the difference between making a good first impression and making the worse mistake of your life.
Most bad first impression tends to last for life and spread like wildfire. If I come off the wrong way, chances are the person will end up telling their friends, families, and colleagues about one of the worse first meetings they ever had. Thus, it could ruin my chances at success. As Eliot Abrams once said, "First impressions matter. Experts say we size up new people in somewhere between 30 seconds and two minutes." I have no doubt that this is true. During those precious moments, it is possible to make a complete idiot of oneself or to make a good impression. As the moment approaches, I can feel the butterflies in my stomach turn into a raging tornado. Their wings are beating against my insides while the wind screams "idiot" in my head.
I walk across the room holding my glass-shield. It is now that I realize how small and insignificant glass is in my hand. Before, when the moment seemed so far away, the glass felt heavy, as if it was some vase or glass door. Now, as the moment for making my first impression draws closer, the glass seems to get smaller. Looking in the glass, I can see the liquid in it. I have a short conversation in my mind about whether the glass is half empty or half full. As I make my way across the room, the argument in my mind gets louder and louder. Finally, a rational voice speaks up from the depths of my soul and says, "Does it matter?" As if my mind was a room of academics trying to discover the meaning of life and was presented with a theory, everything went quiet. For a brief moment, I have utter quiet in my mind. Time to think about the first impression I am about to make.
As I turn my mind to how I am going to make a first impression, my body starts to relax. The butterflies in my stomach went from a raging tornado to a calm river. The soft fluttering of their wings calms my nerves, and I become confident. As I look across the sea of humans standing before me, I spot my target. She is a tall, blonde woman with the blue eyes and charming smile sitting at the table at the front of the room. She is speaking to someone. They seem to be in a very deep conversation. This is good because it gives me time to size her up.
As I look at her, I start to form a first impression of her. There is thunder in her voice as she speaks and the way she tilts her head to the side a little tells me she is someone who speaks her mind. She waves her hand as she speaks in order to drive her point home to the person in front of her. Slowly she stands as if she is a mountain rising from the sea. It becomes clear that due to her height, she towers over the majority of the people in the room. She wears eyeglasses, but her eyes appear sharp as an arrow as it moves across the room looking for its target. I have a feeling that it may be difficult to talk to her about my issue, so I try not to meet her piercing blue eyes. Unfortunately, our eyes met. The butterflies that were alive in my stomach met a quick death in an instance as I move towards her. To my shock and utter surprise she shakes her head no and points to the person behind me.
The coolness of relief washes over me as if I was a burning bush needing water thrown over me to be saved from destruction. I gulp down the last of my drink as if I never had a drink in years. As I search around for a full glass to become my next shield, I try to figure out why I was passed over. Should I think myself lucky that I have more time to make a great first impression or should I just give up and go home? For some reason, I stay because maybe something good will come from this experience. I turn my back to her and walk to the nearest table and pick up a full glass. I have my new shield. I am ready for whatever comes next.
I look around the room and noticed that many people have left the room. Those that remain are quiet. Some look around scared while others are seemingly calm. Suddenly, a name is called. A thin guy slowly walks across the room as if it was doomsday and he is about to meet his opponent. I can hear him stutter his name to the person who called it out earlier as he reaches the front of the room. All eyes are on him. He is shaking like a leaf on a windy day. She smiles to him and tell him everything will be alright. She offers him a seat. Everyone turns their head away, not wanting to see the result of this battle firsthand. Whispers can be heard as the two continue their conversation. More people walk into the room. Each was handed a glass, and each is using that glass as a shield. I can hear someone walking towards me. I lift my eyes to see who dares to interpret my thoughts. I am met with a quiet, yet shy smile of a newcomer.
She approaches me with confidence on her face. In her hand, she clutches her drink. I look closely at her face and can see her lips are quivering. I smile at her despite feeling nervous myself. She puts out her hand and says "Hi, my name is Kathy." Knowing this could be my chance to practice my first impression on her, stuck out my hand. Remembering to keep eye contact and give a firm but not too firm handshake, I returned the greeting with my name. I can see she is interested in keeping the conversation going. While we wait for our moment to come, we talk about where we are from, how we arrive at our current destination today, and what we think our chances were like compared to others in the room.
As we our conversation progress, I can see Kathy is becoming relaxed about the situation. Her death grip on her glass is loosening, and her lips are curved into the sunniest smile. We seem to be attracting the attention of those around us. A few people have formed a line similar to a flock of bird and were coming our way. To them, Kathy and I must seem like an island in the middle of a restless sea. The crowd around us gets bigger as our conversation starts to take on a life of its own. I look to the front of the room, hoping that my moment has not come yet. The thundering voice is calling out names, but none is mine, and I am happy about it. I know that with each person joining our conversation, I can practice getting better at my first impression. With each practice my chances at getting this part would increase. My nervousness is gone and in its place an overwhelming bout of confidence has bloomed. I put my glass down because I know I no longer need a glass shield. I looked around, past the small crowd around me and noticed the room is becoming empty again. Like the sun knows it will rise the next day, I know my moment for my first impression is coming up. I prepare myself mentally for my moment.
The thundering voice calls out once more and this time it calls out my name. Everyone in the crowd around me goes silent as I take a deep breath. As people part like the Red Sea and I walk down the middle, a few brave souls whispers "good luck" to me. I smile and thank them knowing that this was my chance to get the part.
As I stare straight into her eyes, the tall, mountain of a woman gives me a tiny smile. Her motions to a chair in front of the desk and tells me to take a seat. She adjusts her eyeglasses and picks up her pen. She stabs the paper with a pen as she writes down some notes. I reach over the table and extend my hand. In my clearest voice, I introduced myself and she does the same. We both give firm handshakes. Her smile widens, and I know I succeeded in starting my first impression off right. She starts to question why I am here today and how I heard about the film production going on at this location. I am excited because the answers are clear as day. I tell her about a friend I know working on the film at the moment. I can see her piercing eyes are less sharp now. Instead, they seem to be smiling. She knows the persons I am speaking about now.
First impression is important to the majority of society. Making a bad first impression is everyone's worse nightmare. While I did not get a part in the film, I know that I did not make a complete idiot out of myself. The conversation had gone as smooth as a calm lake on a hot sunny day. She found our conversation to be stimulating. After exchanging contact, we parted ways. As I walked through the room, I can see that many of the other would-be actresses and actors were nervous. I smile at them knowing that many of them had the same nervous butterfly feeling in their stomach. Most were probably hoping to get a part in the film. However, I know they were all hoping that their first impression would go alright. For them, making a good first impression could mean the difference between getting future jobs and being forgotten like yesterday's trash. Again, people part like the Red Sea as I passed by them. I whisper "good luck" to many of the people who were in the crowd with me. In return, I was met with a sea of silent smiles and nervous head nods.