Should I sit exams?

It depends... this is something to discuss with your teacher. Exams are a great goal to work towards. There are a number of different syllabuses and organisations offering external examinations, there will generally be something suitable for you to work towards. It may need to be a longer term goal (years or months rather than weeks), most students have the potential to achieve really well. If exams are not for you there are different ways of checking your unique progress, increasing ability and confidence, such as performing to friends or at MEC performance afternoons.

Playing in front of people makes me nervous.

Most people get nervous playing in front of others. Start small. Have a go at playing in front of friends or family slowly building confidence. Also, perform the pieces that you have been playing for a long time. An easy piece played well will always sound better than a harder piece played hesitantly. Try to perform as much as possible and the more you do, the easier it will become. Nerves are not all bad - our experts say some small amounts of nerves can be helpful for a little edge and adrenalin.

Should I learn to read music?

Reading music is a great skill to learn. Adding a visual reference allows learning styles to be better integrated and having the material notated down means a student knows exactly what to play. Some students may take a little longer to become confident music readers than others. This doesn't matter. So long as you are progressing overall in music and aware of some of the basics of reading, fluency will come eventually.