Students Begin Nationals Journey
As the old saying goes, you can’t get to Carnegie Hall without practice.
To the over three thousand forensic competitors swarming the streets of Kansas City this week, the road to the national tournament has been wrought with far more than just practice. For some, the journey has been paved with worn-out high heels and blistered feet, empty water bottles, beaten down storage tubs filled with countless hours of research and a forlorn stack of ties that never get untied – just readjusted for the following weekend. (After all – who has the time and luxury to waste on ties when the van leaves in five minutes?)
Sure, there’s a comfort when competing in one’s home district all year. The competitors, coaches and campuses are fairly familiar and reasonably consistent. After about nine months of tournaments, it feels downright natural.
Then, you have Nationals. That’s when things start to get real. Suddenly, the stakes are higher and competitors are embarking on an entirely new journey.
For some the journey through Nationals is a new and tumultuous one, for the mind as well as the gastrointestinal track. Leading up to the first day of competition, Emily Boysisio of Canyon City, Colo., admitted that she was “Totally nervous. I got sick this morning. But it’s worth it.”
Boysisio wasn’t alone in feeling the monolithic pressure of the national tournament. Another first-time competitor at the national tournament, Derrick Standley of Wichita, Kan., explained that anticipation plays a tremendous part leading up to the start of prelims. “I was definitely relieved when the first day finally rolled around,” noted Standley, “because it’s always worse going up to something than when you’re actually doing it.”
You can’t fault anyone for feeling nervous. Odysseus only had to worry about a murderous, blood-thirsty cyclops on his journey. Forensics competitors must endure six rounds of prelims before facing another six rounds before reaching the final stage. So what superstitions and coping mechanisms do these fearless speakers employ on their journey?
Jessica Baggs of Owl Park, Tex., confided, “Usually I just take Pepto before. That usually works…for strategy.”
Her teammate Katelyn Perry admitted, “I’m a pen chewer. I pretty much have to destroy the cap of a pen before the day is over. I go through a lot of pens.” Other competitors have more, shall we say – unconventional – strategies for tackling the tournament. “I like to get very little to no sleep,” noted Luke Armstrong of Austin, Tex.
[DISCLAIMER: Sleep deprivation may not be suitable for all performers. Please consult a professional forensics coach before trying this on your own. Luke does clarify though, “It just tends to always happen.”]
Other competitors, however, have made this journey before. With repetition comes wisdom and a reduction of uncertainty, notes seasoned speaker Cat Escalona from Albuquerque, N. M.. Escalona points out that, “I’m a lot more ready for it. Same feeling, different location. Everyone’s super jittery the first round. Everyone’s super tired the second round. From then on, everyone is just super hopeful and wants to keep on going.”
For Jonathan Lewallen of Wichita, Kan,, having taken the journey through the national tournament before helps with creating a strategy for the week. “The primary difference is that this is an endurance competition,” Lewallen explains, “You effectively have to go to a new tournament every day, day after day.”
While some chose to focus primarily on competition, others found that smaller goals helped to cope with the journey. When asked what he wanted to accomplish over the course of the week, Kenny Lau of Chantilly, Virginia replied, “The first one is have people add me on Facebook. The second is the ribs. Third of all, I want to do as many rounds as I can before I graduate because this has been a truly great experience.”
Daniel Knapp of Marstown, N. J., echoed Lau’s observation on what, for some, will be the start of their last national tournament. “It’s a little more sentimental”, Knapp explained, “You want to keep on going as far as you can. It’s really the end–not the end of the season, but our four years as forensicsators.”
While this week marks the end of a longer journey for many competitors, for a few, it is the start of something new. “I’m looking forward to learning about all the other events. I just joined in January so I’m still lost in the world of speech. It’s pretty exciting,” Boysisio pointed out.
As postings prepare to drop on Tuesday, hopefully, Boysisio and others will find this week’s journey to be nothing short of epic.