I’m not completely sure where the confidence came from. I think part of it was simply being a little bit older and more experienced. One thing I can tell you is something it’s taken me a long time to realize- classes only last like four months long. If you keep this in mind, and consider that you won’t see 95% of the people in the class again, you’ll lose a good deal of the fear of rejection you have.

I know that the way I say it makes it sound really easy when it seems so much harder, but once it clicks, it’s really quite simple. Now, this isn’t to say that I talk a lot in all of my classes- I’m still pretty shy, and if I don’t have anything productive to add to the conversation, I’ll just sit there like a bump on a log. But when I do have something to say, it’s a lot easier to say it if I remember that if I make a fool of myself, it can only bother me for at most four months, and probably much much less than that.

Just keep in mind that the worst case scenario is that you ostracize a group of people that will only be part of your life for a few months, while the best case scenario is that you impress people, gain a better understanding of the subject, and even earn a better grade in the course by being more involved in the proceedings of the class. Teachers and professors really do notice who is actively involved in the class, and will often take that into consideration when calculating grades.

One quick anecdote to finish this off- in the class I mentioned in my original post, we had a final project that I took a different approach to than the teacher was looking for. She gave me something like a %74 and wrote a few critiques of my work on the project. When I got it back, I was dissatisfied with my grade and went to talk to her about it after class. Because I took the initiative to explain my point of view and provide more proof of my work on the project and understanding of the subject, my grade was raised to something in the low nineties. I’m sure that if the guy who sat behind me and slept through most classes had gone to dispute his grade, he would’ve sounded like a lazy whiner. However, because I had been so obviously involved in the class the whole semester, she was more open to listening to my point of view and reevaluate my work based on my idea of what the project was, rather than her official grading rubric.

Sorry this has been such a long and winding reply, I’ve simply been trying to sort out my thoughts on the subject. I think my main point to gaining confidence to speak up in class is to keep a fair perspective, realizing that even if you do say something stupid (not likely), it really doesn’t effect your life at all. When you’re 90 years old, each class you’ve taken will seem like a sneeze; you likely won’t remember anything embarrassing you said, and the people in your class definately won’t remember anything you said at all. Unless it was really insightful :).

Good luck! It’s so worth it to feel like an integral part of your learning experience.