To find the original price \( p \) of the shirt, we know that the current price of $7.98 is half of the original price. We can represent this relationship with the equation:
\[ 7.98 = \frac{1}{2} p \]
To solve for \( p \), we can multiply both sides of the equation by 2:
\[ 2 \times 7.98 = p \]
Calculating the left side gives:
\[ p = 15.96 \]
Thus, the original price of the shirt is \( p = 15.96 \).