Reflect on your experience with the State Tournament.
What was your?
How did you do?
What was your best memory?
What was your Biggest Challenge?
What advice would you give others who follow?
I took speech because Coach asked me to. I thought, “Yeah, I guess that could be fun.” I was wrong, and I was right, each in part. I was wrong, because I didn’t realize how hard this class was going to be. It was a lot of work that I was not prepared for. Looking back, I really wish I hadn’t ignored that work, and put it off as long as I could. I was right, because the people I met during these competitions were some of the most interesting, entertaining and talented people that I have ever met. A brief history of my speech career: I wrote an ADS piece, didn’t ever perform it because there was no ADS at the competition I went to, so I was stuck doing only Impromptu Speaking, which is terrible. I hated it. It was hard, and I didn’t do any of the work that I needed to do to prepare, because I didn’t think I could prepare. After that, I went into poetry. I loved poetry, and I loved my poetry piece, but it was very controversial. So controversial, that it single-handedly landed me in fifth place each time I performed it. Maybe it was my performance, but who knows?
I would have loved to compete in the state tournament, but instead I was simply a worker bee. On Friday morning/afternoon, I ran around like a chicken with its head cut off, trying to figure out where I needed to be, and what I needed to do, all the while I was struggling the fact that these speech kids would not shut up while there were classes going on. That was the most stressful, challenging part of the entire experience. I also made a bunch of flyers for all of the different events. You know, “POI, J101,” or something like that. I was also in charge of cleaning up after, and that didn’t really get done like it should have. I was also, also supposed to make big posters that said, “All these events are down this hallway,” and I didn’t do that either.
The lesson here is this: do. The. Work. The work isn’t that terrible. It’s tedious and time consuming, maybe, but it’s not impossible. Unless you do congress or extemp, and then maybe it’s impossible. Before you decide it’s time to lounge around and relax, make sure all your work is done. Make sure you’ve made the posters, made the maps, researched the topic, rehearsed the piece. Be sure that you’ve done everything you can to the best of your ability, because saying, “Oh, I’ll do it later,” and then once later comes, it’s too late.
Michael.Maass17April 18, 2018 at 9:38 AM State was a lot of things. It was a very good experience for me and a dreary one. It was good, because it gave me the insight that I needed so that I can use it for next year. My scores were 5th, 3rd, and 1st. I'm very... satisfied with my scores. I feel this way, but I also wanted to break more than anything. My desire for this is uncanny, but that didn't change the results. Nonetheless, I feel as though Frank and I performed pretty good. It's really hard not to sound like I'm "Throwing Shade" but the truth is, is that it was tough. It was tough having a partner who...didn't share the same desire as I do. The drive to win, and be the best. The second those banners brought a different reaction from the both of us. I was disappointed in myself, while my partner was very content.
My best memory was being able to witness some of the pieces that were performed. Even though some selections seemed repetitive, some were actually very cool to watch. It raised the bar for me, so now I can take that experience and get better and creating something as big and awesome as those other pieces. The hardest challenge was trying to make the piece as great as I wanted it to be. There were some disagreements between me and my partner that later led to our demise.
For others who will compete, I hope they understand that it really does "take two to tango." That you should get a partner that can help build you up and not halt the working process.
Senior Year, the year of regrets, the year of things I'll never have the chance to do again. I started speech this year and I wish I had an option to do this earlier. Although I didn't have that option I did have the option to be the best this year and that is an opportunity I'm never going to get back. You only have these years in high school once. Once you finish all your courses for your grade its over there is no go back and let's try again button.
I made this realization too late. I realized that this is my last State competition for High School speech and debate. I don't get to do this again and I really wish I would have done better. I wish I would have been the best at what I did because whether or not I want to admit it I have a passion for this. I have a drive to want to do this. But I didn't have the dedication and ambition I should have.
I spent the entirety of this year with my "The Odd Couple" piece. I spent the entire year wishing I had a different piece instead of learning how to do my piece the best I could do. I loved my Prose piece that I did, but Coach knew what was the best way to get me to State and instead of trusting him and biting the bullet and going all in on my duet acting piece I coasted. I didn't take the opportunity handed to me and learned to strive. I will never get this opportunity again.
The way I could have improved was simple, love the piece, have fun, strive, learn, grow. Stop regretting the opportunity I wish I had and cherish the opportunity I did have. I could have been a STATE Champion I could have made our school known as a force to be reckoned with. I had so much opportunity and I didn't realize.
I don't care what else is going on. I have other classes but if I am being completely honest I spent more time sleeping and being stressed than dealing with my stress. I didn't take the time to enjoy and dedicate myself to my performance.
I made a realization while performing in my last round, the last time I will probably ever perform this piece, I realized how performing the piece was supposed to feel the whole time. I enjoyed performing it, I felt funny, I felt like the audience couldn't stop laughing. I fell in love with my piece, but sadly I fell in love too late. I will never have the opportunity to improve. I saw so much potential with my piece suddenly and I wish that I spent more time with my piece so I could fall in love with it sooner.
Instead of dwelling on my regret I am going to learn from it. I need to apply more dedication and passion and ambition to every part of my life that I want to be the best version of me that I can be. I need to stop procrastinating and start dedicating myself.
State was…different. It was a nice experience. I mean would I do that again? Probably not. But it really was a nice experience. It was nice because it gave me what it would look like if I wanted to be someone’s personal assistant. Yeah, I don’t want to be someone’s personal assistant anymore… Any who, Dr. G was really nice but he was also energetic. It was like I was following around me. I only say that because everyone who has been out and about with me has lost me at some point when we went out. Yeah, I like to wonder and get lost … I would have to say my best memory was being in the tap room. It was when they were trying to figure out how the break the tree-way tie. But it seemed like Dr. G was trying to push all three of them going to state, even if everyone in the room got to vote.
For others who will help crew, they need to understand that they shouldn’t keep all the information to themselves. It really help when other people and not just the top three or four knows what is going on. It was hard for me when Dr. G was asking questions that Becca, Jam, and/or Thomas knew. I feel like the state could have gone smoother if more people were included from the start.
The state tournament was a major thing that I had the opportunity to compete in. it was what separated me from my expectations and reality of my overall dedication for speech and debate. i and my partner finished 7th int the state for duet acting. We scored a 6, 2, and, a 3 in all three rounds.
Going in to the tournament I knew hat the first thing I wanted to do was prepare. To prepare for a speech and debate tournament meant talking to walls. I did think the idea was tedious, but I knew it would benefit me. reading over the script while there was time gave me more confidence being how I could state the next line even before turning the next page. My best memory would have been enjoying the different pieces that students brought to state. I also loved getting reactions for the judges and the others contestants. As all ways with each round there always that one piece that I enjoy watching more than once. the challenging part of state is coming with the preparation you put forth before coming to state. i say this because I've always been reminded of how some schools have have their piece for a couple of weeks or more than a month. That played a huge factor to how I approached state.
To others who follow, the upcoming state chasers, I say don't waste time with the things you think are important to you because of the convenience if its not going to benefit you don't waste time on it. You choose to get better at what your strengths are. you choose to lead by example. You choose to do what it take to succeed, because when its time to act and you did prepare or meet the criteria you can't really do much but start again if you get the chance.
At East Nashville Magnet High School, it is a very different environment from West Creek. In the schools, there were similar but different rules.The selection of students were different and the accomplishments were too. In one class out of my 8, speech, was one of the most easy A’s you could get. In the class it was mostly memorizing information and performing speeches.
Also in my Speech class we prepared certain speeches and skits to perform in front of the class. This was the high of the entire class. Performing the speeches made the students nervous but overall it was fun to watch other students perform ideas in a speech. The speeches made the class more exciting to go to.
Overall my before speech class was very fun and easy to pass. It is different from this school because the speech class didn't have roles and tournaments to go to. Adjusting to the environment here is harder than it would be at East High. The speech classes are very different.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI took speech because Coach asked me to. I thought, “Yeah, I guess that could be fun.” I was wrong, and I was right, each in part. I was wrong, because I didn’t realize how hard this class was going to be. It was a lot of work that I was not prepared for. Looking back, I really wish I hadn’t ignored that work, and put it off as long as I could. I was right, because the people I met during these competitions were some of the most interesting, entertaining and talented people that I have ever met. A brief history of my speech career: I wrote an ADS piece, didn’t ever perform it because there was no ADS at the competition I went to, so I was stuck doing only Impromptu Speaking, which is terrible. I hated it. It was hard, and I didn’t do any of the work that I needed to do to prepare, because I didn’t think I could prepare. After that, I went into poetry. I loved poetry, and I loved my poetry piece, but it was very controversial. So controversial, that it single-handedly landed me in fifth place each time I performed it. Maybe it was my performance, but who knows?
ReplyDeleteI would have loved to compete in the state tournament, but instead I was simply a worker bee. On Friday morning/afternoon, I ran around like a chicken with its head cut off, trying to figure out where I needed to be, and what I needed to do, all the while I was struggling the fact that these speech kids would not shut up while there were classes going on. That was the most stressful, challenging part of the entire experience. I also made a bunch of flyers for all of the different events. You know, “POI, J101,” or something like that. I was also in charge of cleaning up after, and that didn’t really get done like it should have. I was also, also supposed to make big posters that said, “All these events are down this hallway,” and I didn’t do that either.
The lesson here is this: do. The. Work. The work isn’t that terrible. It’s tedious and time consuming, maybe, but it’s not impossible. Unless you do congress or extemp, and then maybe it’s impossible. Before you decide it’s time to lounge around and relax, make sure all your work is done. Make sure you’ve made the posters, made the maps, researched the topic, rehearsed the piece. Be sure that you’ve done everything you can to the best of your ability, because saying, “Oh, I’ll do it later,” and then once later comes, it’s too late.
ReplyDeleteMichael.Maass17April 18, 2018 at 9:38 AM
State was a lot of things. It was a very good experience for me and a dreary one. It was good, because it gave me the insight that I needed so that I can use it for next year. My scores were 5th, 3rd, and 1st. I'm very... satisfied with my scores. I feel this way, but I also wanted to break more than anything. My desire for this is uncanny, but that didn't change the results. Nonetheless, I feel as though Frank and I performed pretty good.
It's really hard not to sound like I'm "Throwing Shade" but the truth is, is that it was tough. It was tough having a partner who...didn't share the same desire as I do. The drive to win, and be the best. The second those banners brought a different reaction from the both of us. I was disappointed in myself, while my partner was very content.
My best memory was being able to witness some of the pieces that were performed. Even though some selections seemed repetitive, some were actually very cool to watch. It raised the bar for me, so now I can take that experience and get better and creating something as big and awesome as those other pieces. The hardest challenge was trying to make the piece as great as I wanted it to be. There were some disagreements between me and my partner that later led to our demise.
For others who will compete, I hope they understand that it really does "take two to tango." That you should get a partner that can help build you up and not halt the working process.
Senior Year, the year of regrets, the year of things I'll never have the chance to do again. I started speech this year and I wish I had an option to do this earlier. Although I didn't have that option I did have the option to be the best this year and that is an opportunity I'm never going to get back. You only have these years in high school once. Once you finish all your courses for your grade its over there is no go back and let's try again button.
ReplyDeleteI made this realization too late. I realized that this is my last State competition for High School speech and debate. I don't get to do this again and I really wish I would have done better. I wish I would have been the best at what I did because whether or not I want to admit it I have a passion for this. I have a drive to want to do this. But I didn't have the dedication and ambition I should have.
I spent the entirety of this year with my "The Odd Couple" piece. I spent the entire year wishing I had a different piece instead of learning how to do my piece the best I could do. I loved my Prose piece that I did, but Coach knew what was the best way to get me to State and instead of trusting him and biting the bullet and going all in on my duet acting piece I coasted. I didn't take the opportunity handed to me and learned to strive. I will never get this opportunity again.
The way I could have improved was simple, love the piece, have fun, strive, learn, grow. Stop regretting the opportunity I wish I had and cherish the opportunity I did have. I could have been a STATE Champion I could have made our school known as a force to be reckoned with. I had so much opportunity and I didn't realize.
I don't care what else is going on. I have other classes but if I am being completely honest I spent more time sleeping and being stressed than dealing with my stress. I didn't take the time to enjoy and dedicate myself to my performance.
I made a realization while performing in my last round, the last time I will probably ever perform this piece, I realized how performing the piece was supposed to feel the whole time. I enjoyed performing it, I felt funny, I felt like the audience couldn't stop laughing. I fell in love with my piece, but sadly I fell in love too late. I will never have the opportunity to improve. I saw so much potential with my piece suddenly and I wish that I spent more time with my piece so I could fall in love with it sooner.
Instead of dwelling on my regret I am going to learn from it. I need to apply more dedication and passion and ambition to every part of my life that I want to be the best version of me that I can be. I need to stop procrastinating and start dedicating myself.
State was…different. It was a nice experience. I mean would I do that again? Probably not. But it really was a nice experience. It was nice because it gave me what it would look like if I wanted to be someone’s personal assistant. Yeah, I don’t want to be someone’s personal assistant anymore… Any who, Dr. G was really nice but he was also energetic. It was like I was following around me. I only say that because everyone who has been out and about with me has lost me at some point when we went out. Yeah, I like to wonder and get lost …
ReplyDeleteI would have to say my best memory was being in the tap room. It was when they were trying to figure out how the break the tree-way tie. But it seemed like Dr. G was trying to push all three of them going to state, even if everyone in the room got to vote.
For others who will help crew, they need to understand that they shouldn’t keep all the information to themselves. It really help when other people and not just the top three or four knows what is going on. It was hard for me when Dr. G was asking questions that Becca, Jam, and/or Thomas knew. I feel like the state could have gone smoother if more people were included from the start.
The state tournament was a major thing that I had the opportunity to compete in. it was what separated me from my expectations and reality of my overall dedication for speech and debate. i and my partner finished 7th int the state for duet acting. We scored a 6, 2, and, a 3 in all three rounds.
ReplyDeleteGoing in to the tournament I knew hat the first thing I wanted to do was prepare. To prepare for a speech and debate tournament meant talking to walls. I did think the idea was tedious, but I knew it would benefit me. reading over the script while there was time gave me more confidence being how I could state the next line even before turning the next page.
My best memory would have been enjoying the different pieces that students brought to state. I also loved getting reactions for the judges and the others contestants. As all ways with each round there always that one piece that I enjoy watching more than once.
the challenging part of state is coming with the preparation you put forth before coming to state. i say this because I've always been reminded of how some schools have have their piece for a couple of weeks or more than a month. That played a huge factor to how I approached state.
To others who follow, the upcoming state chasers, I say don't waste time with the things you think are important to you because of the convenience if its not going to benefit you don't waste time on it. You choose to get better at what your strengths are. you choose to lead by example. You choose to do what it take to succeed, because when its time to act and you did prepare or meet the criteria you can't really do much but start again if you get the chance.
At East Nashville Magnet High School, it is a very different environment from West Creek. In the schools, there were similar but different rules.The selection of students were different and the accomplishments were too. In one class out of my 8, speech, was one of the most easy A’s you could get. In the class it was mostly memorizing information and performing speeches.
ReplyDeleteAlso in my Speech class we prepared certain speeches and skits to perform in front of the class. This was the high of the entire class. Performing the speeches made the students nervous but overall it was fun to watch other students perform ideas in a speech. The speeches made the class more exciting to go to.
Overall my before speech class was very fun and easy to pass. It is different from this school because the speech class didn't have roles and tournaments to go to. Adjusting to the environment here is harder than it would be at East High. The speech classes are very different.
Welcome to our group, Keanna. I wish you would have been here even 1 week earlier to see the exciting things we were doing prior to your arrival.
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ReplyDelete