Speak it Loud, Speak it Proud!

423 words

Today I experienced something that I had never experienced before:  The State Speech Contest. I myself am not on the speech team but my younger sister is on one of the freshman improvisation teams. My parents were volunteering so I decided to tag along with them and I do have to say, it was quite something!

 

First of all, there are students from more than 150 high schools from around the state of Iowa at this contest. (Yet the hallways still weren’t as crowded as they are during the school day!) There were at least twenty centers where all sorts of music, acting, and improvisation, and much more were going on. I have to say, there was a lot to see and a lot going on!

 

One thing that I wasn’t used to was no one at the contest could wear clothing displaying the school that they were from or supporting. Everything was completely neutral but it did take the politics out of everything. People weren’t intimidated by seeing a certain school walking in because, well, they didn’t know what school that was! Teams were judged based on their performance and their performance only. Even though that’s the way it should be anyway, we both know that really isn’t how it works. Unfortunately.

 

Another thing I loved was the FOOD! I mean, who doesn’t love food? I am not sure if every speech contest has such an amazing selection of food but my oh my was I impressed! I am so used to unhealthy concessions at volleyball tournaments where the healthiest thing available is an apple flavored candy. But not today! Today’s menu consisted of Chick-fil-a, Pizza Hut, HyChi (Hy-Vee Chinese food), and Zio Johnos Spaghetti just to name a few! Okay so maybe they aren’t salads but at least there is some consistency to the food! I mean, it will keep a person fuller longer than a walking taco that’s for sure!

 

All in all, today was a good day! I cried, I laughed, and I laughed so hard I cried. Either way, I really enjoyed seeing so many different groups and types of groups and experiencing something totally new that I had never done before. I really hope that I get a chance to experience a speech contest again in the future! And who knows? Maybe all of this excitement will encourage me to try out for speech next year! That way I can experience it all over again but this time from the view of a competitor, not a spectator.  

~Skooogster(: