It was Friday, April 16, 2010 the day had finally arrived…state day for Forensics. I had been waiting for this day for a month. I was sitting on the couch waiting for my ride to Denmark High School. One of my coaches, Mrs. D, kindly offered to pick me up at my house and take me to Denmark because I didn’t have a ride. So as I sat and waited for my ride I had a flash back to the District competition. Which was an amazing experience just to know that I made it this far.
At district we had to sit and wait for the results of how we did which seemed like forever…it was an hour or so before we found out who had qualified for state. I later found out that had I indeed qualified for state. I was so excited I couldn’t believe it I actually had achieved something big enough to go to state. It was the best feeling in the world. However I wasn’t the only person who qualified for state there were many others but they were unable to attend because they had been signed up for the trip to New York.
Mrs. D and I were just getting to Denmark and Ms. F, my other coach, had been waiting at on the Denmark bus at the High School. I will never forget walking on that bus there were a ton of kids on that bus. I really got a nice introduction when I walked onto that bus. I remember one of my coaches encouraging me to talk to the other students get to know them. I remember being a little nervous at first but they were all so nice and willing to meet me and talk with me to make sure I didn’t feel left out. It didn’t take me long to warm up to the people that I had met, I specifically remember Vladimir and Jessica, they were really sweet to me and made me feel welcome, and didn’t make me feel weird just because I was from a rivalry school; Kewaunee.
The ride to Madison was four hours but only felt like only an hour, surprisingly. I was able to watch my portable DVD player, but unfortunately my DVD player was out of batteries. On the way to Madison at our bus stopped at a McDonalds on the way I ate a ton of fatty and greasy foods, but it tasted so good though. Finally you could see the sign “Madison” with an arrow pointing in the direction that Madison was. As we drove into Madison at about noonish I looked around at the huge buildings. I was in awe the whole time; the University Campus was absolutely beautiful and very large. The Competition wouldn’t start until seven o’clock at night. So what do you do till competition? You shop on State Street. I hooked up with Vladimir and Jessica and we walked and walked and walked. Of course I made the mistake of wearing high heel patent leather boots. By three o’clock my feet were killing me. So I stopped at a Walgreens and bought a cheap pair of four dollar flip flops. Which by the way are still holding up and I still wear them. Being my first time in Madison I just had to go to the state capital so we went. Wow it was breathtaking, what a sight. The pillars and floors were made of marble. There was a huge dome inside with an interesting design on the ceiling part.
Afterwards Vladimir and Jessica and I went to a very neat tea shop, with low tables and pillows in place of the chairs or really low stools. Jessica was starting to not feel well so that’s why we stopped. She felt sort of nauseous and needed to use the restroom because she felt like she was going to throw up. So we went in and asked where the restrooms were and the man behind the counter said that we couldn’t use the restrooms unless we were customers. What kind of rule is that? Anyway we did end up buying tea. We even ended up calling Mrs. Z, one of the Denmark’s coaches, because Jessica really wasn’t feeling well. I couldn’t pronounce her last name so she said “Mrs. Z” was fine. Jessica had some tea then felt a lot better.
Later we went to a jewelry and bead shop, it was very neat even Vladimir enjoyed the shop. There were beads galore, even mood rings. There was even a rack full of colored hemp.
Finally it reached to be about seven o’clock so Vladimir, Jessica and I headed over to Bascom hall. Well more so the hill in front of it. By now I was really nervous. I met Ms. F and Mrs. D at the hill and got my room assignment and was also told to take a breath and relax. They showed me where to go and wished me good luck. Boy was I nervous. I walked into the room. We had to wait a certain amount of time before we could start, till it was exactly seven o’clock. There were about eight other competitors in the room with me and some other adults which I think were parents.
The scale for medals and awards were Gold; twenty-five out of twenty-five, Silver; twenty-three and twenty-four, big bronze; twenty-through twenty-two and a small bronze was nineteen and below. I thought for sure I was going to get a small bronze because I was told that judges were really hard at state, and that there scoring was really tough. Each competitor listened to each of the other people do their presentations. I was one of the last people to perform their piece; I was number seven out of eight. I saw how good most of them were; they were absolutely fantastic and wondered how many of them were going to get gold. I looked at the clock occasionally and the time seemed to drag as I was waiting for my turn to come up. Finally it was my turn, my heart was pounding none stop. I tried to remember what my coaches had taught me on how to properly present, make eye contact, don’t move your feet, don’t show that you have your poems memorized if you really have them memorized and most importantly RELAX take a breath. If you forget your transitions and introduction it’s okay make something up they won’t even know the difference. One thing I kept telling myself was don’t screw up you only have one shot. Which I know isn’t very positive, but I mean come on I was extremely nervous. I started to open my mouth and was really glad my nervousness didn’t take over, I didn’t shake or anything. My voice was loud and clear and I didn’t forget my lines of my transitions or introduction or conclusion. I felt really proud of myself. Before I knew it I was done I stood there for about three seconds then went back to my seat. Finally it was time to find out how I did. I felt relieved, bummed and excited all at the same time. I felt bummed because I knew Forensics was over for the year, I had had so much fun. I learned a lotI rushed back to the hill and say my coaches on the hill where I had departed from them before the competition had started. Mrs. D and Ms. F had been talking then saw me coming towards them and asked me how I had done. Little did I know I was supposed to bring my sheet back to with me, not leave it with judge. So I didn’t even know what I had gotten.
We went to where the rewards or medals were being handed out, and guess what? My sheet was there when I got there. I got a twenty-three out of twenty-five. Holy crap I did so well. I was so excited a got huge congrats from Mrs. D and Ms. F I felt so proud and accomplished.
The bus ride home went really slow it felt like eight gazillion hours. I couldn’t wait to see my parents. We stopped at an Arby’s on the way back, but I wasn’t feeling well so I didn’t eat even though I was told that it might be a good idea to. I refused. After everyone was done we got back on the bus and pulled out of the parking lot and started on the way back home. About an hour had passed and I was feeling worse, I asked my coaches if either one had a piece of mint gum because I felt motion sick, I really felt like I was going to throw up…not cool. Ms. F did I was so grateful. I started to look around me and noticed that Mrs. D had been watching Lost on her i-pod while lying on her seat. Other people including Ms. F were fast asleep. I then thought about it and decided that sleeping wouldn’t be such a bad idea so I got out my blanket and tried to get comfortable on the school bus but nothing seemed to work I just couldn’t get comfortable. So I didn’t sleep on the way home I listened to my music instead. We finally drove into the Denmark Parking lot. I was glad to get home; even though I couldn’t sleep on the bus I was extremely tired because it was like two in the morning.
When I got back to my house there was a nice sign the door it said, “Welcome back silver state medalist.” I again felt so proud. This changed my life. I realized I can do anything I set my mind to. This was one of the biggest accomplishments of my life.