I Wasn't Surprised

 As I mentioned in my previous entry, Allyson has taken her role as co-captain of the Academic Decathlon team very seriously, especially in recent weeks as they were preparing for their regional meet. Over Christmas break, I was shocked when she woke up early one morning to meet her teammates at a coffee shop for a study session which she had organized. And I was even more impressed when she came home and said she'd really enjoyed it. 

Last Monday (January 23), she went to her room with an energy drink after an early supper to study and finish planning her speech. 

"Will it be a late night?" I asked. "I'm afraid you won't be able to sleep if you drink that."

She nodded. "I need it to stay awake. I'll probably be up until 2 or 3." 

The next morning after she'd left for school, I came across the note cards for her speech on the bathroom counter. The top card captured my attention with a riveting introduction. I knew she planned to share the speech with me when she was finished, but I couldn't resist reading the whole thing right then. I smiled as I flipped through the cards because it took me back to speech class in college, when I'd written my notes on index cards just like these; I'd figured that no one wrote notes in ink anymore due to all the electronic options these days. (The notes, it turns out, were only for practicing. At the actual competition, she would have to give her speech from memory.)

I noted with satisfaction the smooth transitions, the appeals to emotion and logic, and the statistics she used to back her claim that hateful rhetoric in the media incites physical violence. I noted one section where the transition felt a little abrupt but decided not to mention it unless she asked for my advice. 

That same evening, Allyson asked me to brew her a pot of coffee after dinner for another late night. As I twisted the hand grinder that I use each Saturday to prepare my one cup of coffee each week, I marveled that my little girl was old enough to drink coffee--even though she's actually been drinking it for several years. It felt different, somehow, like when my parents used to drink coffee from a Thermos to stay awake all night on cross-country trips.

About four hours later, when I was getting ready for bed, Allyson came into my room for a few minutes for our usual bedtime prayer. When I asked if she had any requests, she asked that God would help her perform well at the upcoming Academic Decathlon competition scheduled for the coming Friday and Saturday (January 27-28). 

"You left the notes for your speech in the bathroom today," I said. "I hope you don't mind that I read them. I think your speech is really strong. I especially like the intro. It really grabbed my attention." 

She frowned. "I don't like my speech at all. I'm going to work on it tonight."

"Are you just tweaking it, or revamping it completely?" I contemplated offering advice about the transition, but her answer made it irrelevant.

"Revamping it."

Next, she told me about the sleepover she'd planned for the team on Friday night. Other teams who'd traveled to compete would be staying in a hotel and using every moment together to study, and Allyson wanted her team to have the same advantage. "The whole team--well, the nine people who are competing--will be spending the night at my dad's."

"Won't you need to go to bed early?"

"We have to cram for Saturday," she said. 

She said it was the first sleepover some of the girls had ever been to, and she was nervous about making it an experience that everyone would enjoy. I was touched that she was not only concerned with the studying, but also with making everyone feel comfortable.

So we prayed that the study session would be productive and fun for everyone, and then I asked God to help Allyson as she reworked her speech that evening, and that He would help her deliver the speech in a way that would impact everyone who heard it. 

Quizzing Each Other with Flashcards
The Sleepover Was A Success Both Academically and Socially

After we said amen, I told Allyson I wished I could be there to hear the speech. 

"The only way you could hear my speech is if I got first place at state," she said.

"Maybe that will happen."

"Mama, there will be hundreds of other kids. I'm not going to win first place." 

"Don't count yourself out," I replied.

On Friday afternoon, the first day of the regional competition, I texted Allyson to ask how she'd done.

She replied: 

good! math was really hard but i did great on literature speech and interview 

The following evening at 6:51 p.m., she sent me this picture:

Within her division, among approximately 300 students from as far away as Odessa, Allyson had taken first place in:

• interview
• speech
• music

Winning Her First Medal!

She'd earned second place in:

• art
• social science

She was the second-place student overall, and her team had placed second overall. 

Shared Triumph

Also, she received a perfect score on her interview, in which she had to answer ten minutes of questions without any preparation. 

Here is the end of our text conversation: 

 Sarah: Wow!! I told you not to count yourself out for winning first place!!

Allyson: i wasn't expecting it at all

Sarah: I was. :)

Last night when I got back from visiting my parents, Allyson was already home. It was a delight hearing all the details of her amazing day. I learned that the competition included a thrilling "super quiz" component. The team, divided into three levels (varsity, scholastic, and honors), collaborated on an oral quiz. Each question was read aloud, along with the answer choices. Allyson conferred with her two scholastic team members and wrote down her answers. When each answer was announced, everyone who'd answered correctly raised their pencils in the air and twirled them. The correct answers were then verified and recorded. This was one of the most challenging parts of the competition because each of the three teams had to count on the others to do well in order for all of them to have a chance at advancing to the state competition. 

YES!!

Another challenging aspect of the competition was an impromptu speech. Allyson had to choose one of three prompts and give a three-minute speech after just one minute of preparation! She said she'd chosen to talk about what part-time job she might want to pursue as a career, and she told the truth: she'd love to be a beekeeper because bees are crucial to the health of the planet and because beekeeping can connect you with the local community. 

When Allyson had finished her story, I asked, "Why didn't I get to hear your speech? I thought you would give the speech if you got first place."

"That's only if I get first place at state." 

"Oh, yeah. That's what you told me. Well, maybe I'll be hearing your speech when you go to state, then." 

"If we make it." She explained that they would not find out the results until the next day in the afternoon. "At first they said we were in first place, and we definitely would have made it. But then they recalculated some of the speech scores and said that we were actually in second place. I estimate we have an 85 percent chance of going to state." 

On Sunday afternoon, Allyson and three close friends sat in her room listening to the results over a virtual call. From the jubilant shouts, I knew it was good news. I ran into her room to hear the details. Allyson's team will compete at the state meet next month in Frisco, Texas. They will be matched against teams from schools similar in size, and they have a decent shot at winning. If their team places, each student will receive a scholarship, and individual students can receive scholarships based on their overall scores. This means there is a very good chance that Allyson could walk away with some money.

This explains why Allyson woke up at 10:30 on a snow day so that she could study chemistry, the toughest event, most of today. Even as I type, I can hear her talking about proton numbers in her room, on a virtual call with her teammates. When I think of how I spent the few snow days we ever got when I was a kid growing up in Texas, I have to say that these kids deserve to win state! 

The Best Part

As I'm sure you've surmised, I am incredibly proud of Allyson's hard work, perseverance, intelligence, and poise. But that is not what makes me the most proud. These notes that she received as feedback on her interview capture my sentiments perfectly.

May God Bless the Teacher Who Wrote This

1066: Your confidence and attitude towards life is commendable. Your idea of being strong and good human being is what impressed me most. Your smile spreads happiness. Keep smiling and be proud of who you are. Because, I am extremely proud of you.

Within just ten minutes, this kind stranger saw what I see in my daughter, and I am thankful she took the time to express her admiration so eloquently. I wish she could know that Allyson tacked this note to her bedroom wall, where it will remind her that she is seen and known, and she makes a difference. I imagine the teacher will continue to speak life in this way to other students, and that makes me very happy.

I am proud of Allyson for being smart and capable and working hard and doing all the things that she does "right." I am proud of her for persevering when life gets tough. But I am most proud because she is an amazing human being. She is generous, kind, and compassionate. I believe that she will use the gifts God gave her to make an impact on this world, and that will be a beautiful thing to behold.