so i finally passed my technician exam after studying for like 3 weeks and i was so pumped i ran home and borrowed my dads old baofeng to try to hit the local repeater. took me forever to figure out the offset and the tone settings and by the time i got it working i just kind of froze when someone came back to me. i said my callsign wrong twice and then completely blanked on what to say next and just kind of said 73 and dropped off. the guy was super nice about it but i was so embarrassed. anyway im KD9 something something now, still havent memorized my own call which is probably a bad sign. anyone else have a rough first QSO? please tell me it gets easier

oh man yes it absolutely gets easier, dont even stress about it. my first contact i forgot to say over and just sat there breathing into the mic for like 5 seconds before the other guy said uh go ahead. and i had been studying for months. the thing is everybody on the repeater has been there, they all did the same thing, nobody cares. just get on there and do it again today, seriously dont wait. the more you wait the more it builds up in your head. also yeah memorize your call, write it on a sticky note and put it on the radio until it sticks

haha i did almost the exact same thing, said 73 like halfway through my first contact because i panicked. been licensed about 8 months now and i still get a little nervous calling CQ on HF but repeater stuff feels totally normal now. congrats on passing btw