Talking in front of a crowd can be tough; however, few people understand that struggle more than Etowah’s new assistant principal Matthew Renney. Even with his stage fright, he has risen above challenges and is now a skilled public speaker, all with help from the people around him. 

“When I was younger, I had a bad [stutter] growing up and sometimes would get made fun of for it. I had a middle school teacher who encouraged me to do more public speaking and conquer my stage fright,” Renney said. 

Having a stutter can be a severe problem when it comes to public speaking, but Renney overcame his stage fright by surrounding himself with people who would lift him up and inspire him to do better. When peers in his classes would make fun of him, his teacher was there for him and encouraged him to improve. This taught him a valuable lesson in the importance of the surrounding himself with uplifting people. 

“Surrounding yourself with positive people who will love you and encourage you no matter what is going on is extremely important,” Renney said. 

Having to communicate between his teammates and coaches would have been difficult if he had trouble speaking publicly. Coming from his sports experiences in high school, his team showed him who he wanted to become through community and discipline.  

“In high school, I started to be more vocal on the field with the sports teams I played for, and eventually the stutter went away,” Renney said.  

Renney overcame his troubles with public speaking through the wonderful people he surrounded himself with. Everyone, please wish him a good first year at Eagle Mountain.