"How I survived total humiliation": Caroline Marcil majority screwed up her dream gig. Now that the dust settled, find out what she learned.(WHAT YOU'RE DYING TO KNOW ABOUT)(Interview)

When Caroline Mater recently took the stage at a festival in Quebec City to sing the Canadian national anthem, the 25-year-old nurse felt a wave of panic. But this was no case of the jitters. Ever since last April, she's had to deal with paralyzing flashbacks from a past performance that went horribly wrong.

"At that festival, I told myself: You can let the panic take over and pack it in for good or be strong and do what you love," remembers Caroline. "So I made the choice to go for it--then repeated my mantra to calm down: If you fall on your lace, it's not the end of the world because you know you can get back up again and move on.'"

And that's a mantra Caroline can believe, because she's tested it personally. "Now I can bounce back from any humiliation," she says. "It's funny, but my one awful experience did the opposite of what I would've expected. Instead of making me play it sate, it's actually granted me the freedom to take risks.'"

What instigated Caroline's life turning point? Last April, she booked her first professional gig, and it was huge. "This wasn't just any little recital. It was singing the American and Canadian National Anthems ... at an ice-hockey game between the two rival countries ... in front of 7,000 die-hard fans," she says. "But on the big night, I blew it."

Caroline didn't just miss a high note--everything that could've gone wrong did. But though her ego took a beating, Caroline now says she's stronger for it. Read on as Caroline discusses her mortifying experience and the priceless life tools it gave her.

Great Expectations

"Looking back on that day, there's no way I could've predicted what was going to happen. In the two weeks leading up to the show, I used every spare moment to practice, dedicating my early mornings and evenings to lyric-memory drills and vocals. The invitation to sing crone about because my dad had been boasting to his Hockey Canada colleagues about my amazing voice, so I wanted my performance to go off without a hitch.