AITA for NOT participating in an optional university assignment

I just got a rough talking-to from my professor so I need a 2nd opinion.

I’m in my 1st year of uni, and i’m taking a creative entrepreneurship class. The latest project we had assigned was creating a mock product and pitching it to the class, à la Shark Tank. No biggie, I worked hard on it, completed it, and presented no problem. Now the kicker was that the prof would choose a handful of students who did the best and we would present again, this time to a set of outside industry professionals who would act as mock judges and offer feedback on our pitches.

This was all known beforehand, and while I did want to do well, I had no intention of doing the 2nd presentation, on the account of frankly my terrible stage fright. One time was enough for me. Good thing the prof mentioned that it was optional.

A week later, I discovered I was chosen through the course site, also detailing how the prof would be holding a Zoom meeting for an overview and practice runs for the final presentation. Welp, I thought, he said it was optional, good luck to everyone else, and went about my day.

The day came for the 2nd round of presentations, taking place in an amphitheatre, a lot grander of an event than I had assumed. Especially considering this is a 1st year program. Good thing i’m not up. On a projector screen above the podium were the names of all who were chosen… including my own. I assumed that my absence in that Zoom meeting by proxy opted me out — or that that willing students that were chosen simply needed to confirm, and the prof would disregard the others but apparently not.

Frozen in a state of confusion, I watched the first few presenters do their thing before I was called to the podium. Easy, I calmed myself down, and simply told the prof that I wouldn’t be presenting and they could move right along. No biggie. Wrong. ”What do you mean you’re not presenting?” – the prof was initially confused but then became quite cross, saying that I was unprepared and wasting a spot for other students who had worked tirelessly on their own project and actually wanted this opportunity. I was weirdly guilt tripped, and even after I reminded him that it was optional, he still scolded me in front of the amphitheater. While it became clear that the prof would’ve swapped with another runner-up student in the event of a drop-out, it was an odd reaction to what was, to me, a simple misunderstanding over a project barely worth a quarter of our grade.

He reluctantly conceded and moved along with the presentations, but that interaction did not sit right with me at all, considering I too, worked hard on my project, but simply didn’t choose to go for the bonus level. Again, while I should’ve personally emailed the prof beforehand, he never stated explicitly to opt out, and assumed that everyone who was chosen was presenting. I have to wonder if a situation like this occurred in other years of this class being held, or if I’m just an idiot/spot-holding asshole