We're Going to State!

When we auditioned kids for the literary competition, we were in a tough position. Nelson and I were the only judges and two of our own kids were auditioning. Lucky for us, Dawson had little competition and every student in the room agreed, he won his place on the team no questions asked. 

For the impromptu audition, Max went first so none of the other kids auditioning for Impromptu were in the room. They were preparing their speeches. There were a few others kids hanging around, but mostly it was just mama and daddy listening to our son. Max, bless his heart, was a nervous wreck. 

When all of the auditions were over, the teacher in charge and Nelson asked who I thought did the best job, I said Max. That's no easy task, but after over 20 years in drama, I know a good speaker when I see one. I knew Max would probably take a bit of of a beating since he won his place over some high school students, but I couldn't ignore the fact that he gave the best speech, even though he was shaking in his shoes.

I'm so glad I stood my ground. He only got better and better the more we rehearsed. Most impromptu speaking is centered around a famous quote, so that's how we practiced. I gave him quotes from everyone from Wayne Gretzky to Shakespeare to Henry Ford to Mother Teresa. Another topic they gave us was Ecclesiastes so he practiced with scripture verses as well. The other topics they sent were famous people and social media. We figured famous people would be done with quotes and he got to choose from three, so we felt we covered our bases. The kid has natural talent and with some coaching, has the skills to develop a quick outline, bullet point some thoughts, and then deliver a great speech. 

He was understandably nervous today. He was a middle school kid in the midst of high school competitors. Luckily, his event was not first, so he got to watch Dawson do his thing before going to prep. Dawson killed it and that made Max even more nervous. "There's no way I'm going to beat these kids! They're seniors!" I assured him that if he performed the way he had been practicing, I had no doubt he could win. 

We walked into his event room. There were two judges and an administrator. The competitors drew numbers, and as luck would have it, Max drew 1. He wasn't happy about that, but I was. The duo I coached had their event in 20 minutes, and I desperately wanted to be there for them. They were middle schoolers as well, and I had no idea what nerves would do to them. I wanted to be there to reassure them. However, my first and most important job was to be present for Max, and so that's where I was. 

The other competitors left to sit in the waiting room. The door was shut and the administrator read the rules to Max. He would have seven minutes from the time he drew his three topics to choose his topic and compose his speech. He drew and his time started. I prayed...for seven solid minutes. It's such a helpless feeling. I knew he could do it, but watching him suffer through the choice of a topic and prep was killing me. 

As coached, he picked his topic within the first minute and Nelson and I looked at each other and smiled. He's got this, we both thought. And still I prayed. My 14 year old, who is now taller than me, looked so small in his suit sitting at that table.

 

The administrator let him know time was up. He stood, took a swig of his water, and walked to the front of the judging table with complete confidence. He had been coached to start with an anecdote, tie that in to his quote, outline three points, deliver said points, and then bring it all back at the end by recalling the anecdote. 

He started out with his deep dimples shining while he talked about the movie, Star Wars. I wondered what quote he drew that would have inspired him to lead with an anecdote about Star Wars. Then he said, "So when I was posed with the quote, "May the Force be with you...". Seriously? Of all the fantastic quotes out there, THIS is the one he was given?  I found out later that his other two choices were two names - Betty White and Matthew Stafford. I would have gone with that quote too. 

He was a little bit repetitive at the beginning, but then he hit his stride. He spoke about what the quote means and then drew a beautiful analogy to the Catholic mass when we say, "Peace be with you." Not once did he mutter an "Umm," "Like," or "Uh..". He has a wonderful ability to insert some humor into his speeches and this one was no different. As he was closing he said, "Although 'May the Force be with you' is one of the most iconic quotes, none of us are going to greet each other by saying, 'Wassup. May the Force be with you.'" It was so perfect and so funny, we were all rolling. He then brought it home and finished with finesse. 

I congratulated him on a speech well given and told him he was going to be hard to beat. I couldn't stay to hear his competition because the other kids I coached were performing. 

At lunch, I asked Max how his competition did. He was convinced he would be last place. It doesn't matter how well he does at something, he never thinks he's the best. I told him I wasn't worried.

At the end of the day, we gathered in the giant auditorium with our team and awaited our fate. The lady in charge said they were going to give out the awards in the reverse order of the events, which meant Max's event would be announced third. The first two events were the International and Domestic Extemporaneous speakers. Both of the young men Nelson coached took first place in their events. She always started with third place and worked her way up. By the time she announced second place for Impromptu, we knew our boy had first place locked down and the look on his face when he realized the same thing was worth all the effort and then some. His teammates went crazy and I almost cried. He didn't believe us when we told him he would most likely take first every time he gave a practice speech, and yet, there he was with that sweet blue ribbon hanging around his neck, next to two big high school kids. 

Dawson won second place in his event, Dramatic Interpretation, and advanced to state as well. At the end of the day, our little school, the only school who competed with middle and high school students, took away first place in the region by almost twice as many points as the second place school. We were very proud indeed!

Nelson and I drove the boys' van there and back. The rest of the team planned on stopping for ice cream and getting home by dinner time. However, the young men in our van wanted FOOD. We found a little hole in the wall Mexican place, filled their stomachs, and started planning for state, which is a week from Friday. Nearly every student we brought advanced to state, so we still have a lot of work to do. Hopefully, they will all stay motivated to keep on keeping on until then. Who knows? Maybe...just maybe, we will have the same kind of success there.