10 in 30

Welcome to the 30 in 30 challenge! Each day this month I'll be posting a response to a prompt. You can find all the questions here. I stole the questions from here.


Describe your most embarrassing moment.

I have about a million. Here are a handful...
1. In high school I was bowling with friends. It was a particularly awkward period in my life. A bunch of boys I liked were bowling in the lane next to me and my friends. While going to take my turn to bowl, fingers in the ball, I tripped on a step and the ball went flying. My fingers started bleeding and I'm sure it sounded like a sonic boom.

2. In graduate school I used the word "gross" in a final exam essay. I shouldn't have as gross is not a very sophisticated or academic word. I'm a youth minister so I also use words like suck, bummer, and awesome. The professor evidently had it in for me. Not only did she give me a TERRIBLE (but deserved) grade, but she red-penned the cover of the exam literally degrading me for using the word gross. I was mortified...especially because I had her again the next semester. I joked about the final with my friends, but was embarrassed to my core. One day in class she made a joke about "some student one time" actually used the word gross in a final exam! Everyone in the class laughed. While she didn't name names, my friends knew it was me and I was absolutely the most embarrassed I've ever been. It took every ounce of strength I had not to leave class right then. As soon as I was out of the building I sobbed and cried most of the way home. Going back to class the next week was nearly impossible, but I did. And I did very well in her class from that point forward. It's taken me years of healing to be able to tell that story without crying.

3. Recently there was a very important meeting with very important people happening in our office. I needed to pump and space was at a premium. Our receptionist suggested that I pump in the server room. It was 60 degrees, didn't have a chair, and didn't have a lock on the door. But I situated myself in the corner of the room on the floor and got down to business. The room is so rarely used, I figured I was safe. I was tucked back in one corner and knew I could yell if someone started to open the door. About 5 minutes in and it happened. The door opened. I yelled, "Occupied! Please don't come in! Please don't come in!" and still, they came in. It was a very important person visiting our office. Someone I work with. As soon as she saw me (although completely ignoring my pleas!) she waved, smiled, and turned to leave. I was mortified and my milk completely dried up for hours. To make matters worse, I had a presentation to give the board about 30 minutes later and she was in that meeting.