Last year, Portlander Jessica Coshatt was asked to speak at the National Health Care for the Homeless Conference in New Orleans.
“So I agreed to do it,” said the 28-year-old peer wellness specialist for homeless youth. “Then I thought, ‘Wait a minute, what did I just do?’ “
Coshatt, who had been a homeless youth herself in her early 20s, had agreed to make the first speech of her life to a crowd of about 950 healthcare professionals.
“It was terrifying, so I had to actually push myself through the fear,” she remembers, a smile forming at the thought.
“It was great. I knocked their socks off,” she said, grinning broadly. “I was approached by people throughout the conference and they would say, “Dude, if you hadn’t told us that that was your first public speaking gig, we never would have known. This cannot be the last time.’ “
[For more of this story, written by Kendra Hogue, go to https://www.thelundreport.org/...th-speaks-experience]
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