Fall Newsletter MGJCL fall newsletter part | Page 4

nATIONAL CONVENTION
Sweat dripped down m y face. I st ared
out at t he vast crowd of people before m e,
jaw t ense wit h ant icipat ion and shaking
slight ly. Oh, I apologize. I am not a
professional at hlet e nor am I a pop
superst ar. I m ay have m ade m yself out t o be,
but in act ualit y I?m m erely a Lat in nerd.
Allow m e t o explain how and why t his all
happened and why I wouldn't have changed
a t hing.
I love Lat in. I m ay not be t he best at
sight -reading or be able t o list off t he
principal part s of every verb, but I love Lat in.
The fascinat ing cult ure of t he ancient
Rom ans and m y wonderful classm at es is
enough t o have kept m e at it for five years
now. During m y t hird year of Lat in and m y
Freshm an year in high school, I joined t he
Junior Classical League because of m y
t hen-t eacher, Marge Keeley. I had init ially
dism issed as ?nerdy and quirky and t hough I
was com plet ely correct in t his assum pt ion, I
couldn't have been m ore m isinform ed about
how m uch fun being nerdy could be. A year
lat er and I was head over heels in love wit h
JCL.
Aft er t he st at e convent ion of 2017, I
realized I needed m ore t han a weekend. I
knew vaguely of Nat ional JCL Convent ion
t hrough friends who had been. The st ories of
sleep deprivat ion, wild dances, and an
endless st ream of Lat in nerds was enough t o
get m e t hinking, ?What if I went t o
Nat ionals?? I t alked it over wit h m y fam ily
and aft er a few weeks of bickering and
quest ioning, m y flight s were booked.
Flash forward. It ?s July, 1 AM on t he
day of m y flight , and I?m just now st art ing t o
pack for t he t rip t o Troy Universit y in
Alabam a. Donut s, t wo car rides, t wo flight s,
and 5 cups of coffee lat er, I arrived at t he
Troy Universit y cam pus. It was hot in a way
t hat a weak Nort herner like m yself did not
t olerat e all t oo well. Sweat ing profusely, I
m anaged t o get lost wit hin m y m aze of a
dorm , t hough I did m anage t o m ake som e
new friends in t he process.
The first day of nat ionals was m agical.
I would at t em pt t o explain just how one feels
but for t he sake of t im e, I?m going t o call it
THE BEST DAY EVER!!! The excit em ent of
being surrounded by 2,000 of t he best
people doing t he craziest t hings on a college
cam pus is really quit e incredible. Most days
at nat ional convent ion go som et hing like
t his: breakfast , Cert am en, Olym pika, English
Orat ory et c., social t im e/ lunch, GA/ Spirit ,
m ore event s (frequent ly polit ical ones like
Meet
t he
Candidat es),
dinner,
dance/ agora/ karaoke/ escape
room
et c.,
st at e Fellowship, go t o dorm s/ sleep.
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