Melissa Takes 4th at State!

I am posting an email that Melissa wrote to Bryan. Melissa had several people ask her how old she was up at state and they couldn't believe that she made it into the finals as a freshman. One girl told her that she has been working hard on her speeches all of her high school years JUST to make it into the finals and here Melissa did it her first year - without taking any prior speech classes! She did great!

"Say hello to a survivor of State Speech Competition!! Two of the LONGEST, stressful, sleep-deprived, yet amazingly gratifying, days of my life.

Leaving school on Friday, at 9 in the morinin', a bus full of rowdy, over-exuberant teenagers embarked to Skyview High School in Nampa. I gave my speech twice that day, and I was unsure of how I stacked up against my competition, everybody seemed so dang GOOD from my point of view. We got back late that night around 9:30, and after eating dinner, got into bed around 11. Waking up at 5:15 in the morning, running on about 6 hours of sleep, went back to give the third preliminary round.

I broke in to semifinals, much to my surprise. After going to my assigned room to speak, I saw the competition, and honestly thought "Okay, this is it, give it everything that you've got, this might be the last time you give this speech". I was the last speaker after 5 other O.O.'s had gone, and the judges and competitors were tired of listening, so I thought I'd give them something entertaining to listen to.

I looked at the board, my hopes not high at all. But there is was 12ML, first speaker, room C112. Finals. Wow. Freshman vs. 5 seniors and 1 junior. I gave my speech, for sure knowing this would be the last time. And ended taking fourth at State.

Fourth. No medal, but I didn't need one.

Jerome Advanced Speech Team, State Champions over Hillcrest, by the small margin of 2 points. If ONE person didn't qualify for semis or finals, we might of not taken home the big blue trophy. Pressure much?

And to think, I get to do this for three more years.

Seeing my speech come alive was better than any award someone could've given me. Seeing that I actually wrote (and re-wrote, and re-wrote) something that people could relate to and take to heart, made all the effort worth it."

Melissa