My Power of the Pen Stories

State Results

HELLO EVERYONE! I'M A FRESHMAN AND POWER OF THE PEN IS OVER FOR ME AND I'M REALLY SAD ABOUT THAT BUT I REALIZED I FORGOT TO SHARE MY STATE STUFF WITH YOU!!

So state was on May 26 and May 27 and this year our seventh grade team brought 5 writers and the eighth grade team brought 2 (me and my friend). As usual, we arrived on the 26th and spent the day fooling around on campus and freaking out about the next day. My friend and I mainly played tennis and roamed around our building which I sadly have forgotten the name of. I was not really nervous, more sad that this would be the last time I would ever write for Power of the Pen. I was excited for the day to come. We also went to the dance which was pretty rad too since it was outside and they had pretty cool songs playing. I didn't dance because I'm a loser but I had fun with my friends! After that though I looked like crap because I'm allergic to grass and I had mosquito bites and red rashes all over my legs and yeah. lol

On the 27th, COMPETITION DAY, I was so excited and shared a ton of ideas with the seventh graders and my eighth grade fren and everyone was all giddy and there was so much energy and anticipation and I just loved seeing the seventh graders getting excited because I remember when I was in their place last year and I was about to get sick because I was so nervous. AHHH TIME FLIES!

So we wrote in the three rounds and I thought I did pretty well. I can't really remember prompts because it was so long ago and I am wayyyy too lazy to get out my stories but I wrote about a little boy in the 60's, the Japanese internment camps, and a girl's deceased grandmother wishing she could talk to her granddaughter and tell her everything would be okay. So I was feeling pretty confident about these stories and I ended up getting a 2, a 3, and a 1 and 98, 87, and 95 quality points. AND THEN I MADE IT INTO THE POWER ROUND WHICH I LITERALLY WAS CRYING I WAS SO HAPPY LIKE HOLY CRAP THIS IS THE LAST ROUND. THIS IS THE LAST COMPETITION. It's making me emotional just thinking about the moment they called my name tbh. My EIGHTH GRADE FRIEND WENT TO THE POWER ROUND TOO and I was SO happy for her because she didn't get in last year and she must have been so excited and I was very proud. None of the seventh graders made it but there's always this year and I believe in them! They are all fantastic writers. So in the Power Round I ended up being in the same room as my seventh grade coach and it was kinda reassuring because before we started she was talking to me and telling me how I would do great and I was pumped. For the Power Round, the prompt was "Write about somewhere you'd rather not be" or something along those lines and I wrote about a woman who had been scared to return to the church after her mom died because she felt like her loyalty to God all those years had been forgotten and wasted and she felt betrayed, but in the story she finally went back and heard her mom talking to her and yeah at first she would've rather not been there but she eventually decided to return. I liked the idea and I got a 2 and 96 quality points on it so yes not bad at all.

AND OMG I got 4th place. At state. AHHHH. What a way to end my career right? My friend and I were sitting in the designated seats for the top 54 and oh god it gets me so nervous when they count down from 12th or 15th or whatever down to first place because there is always SO much pressure on me at all times by my teammates and my parents to get the highest placing possible and it honestly scares me half to death and my heart is always racing super fast. So I was sitting there as they were announcing and once they got to like 10th place I was freaking out and fiddling with my shirt and bouncing my leg and all these little nervous ticks it was the most nerve wracking thing.. Like I'm either in the top 10 or I didn't place at all and that just psyched me out. Like I felt like I had to do better than I did last year when I placed 7th and so when they announced 7th and it WASN'T me, that's when panic really started to set in, because I literally thought there was no way I placed higher than 7th. Those people up there look like great writers, there's no way I'm better than them... And then like the next few numbers went by so fast and it was down to 4th place and that's when the announcer was like "And in 4th place... From SOUTH RANGE MIDDLE SCHOOL..." And I WAS LIKE OH MY GOD IS IT ME OR MY FRIEND OH MY GOD and it was me and I was so happy and so relieved that the anticipation was over because I'm pretty sure I almost had a heart attack!!! And I hate this but when I am overwhelmed with excitement like that and I smile, my mouth like twitches and so I always get so nervous for the pictures because I'm like "CAN EVERYONE SEE MY MOUTH LIKE LITERALLY TWITCHING?? BECAUSE I CAN FEEL IT" It's so weird I dunno why it even happens but I JUST SHARED IT WITH YOU GUYs. Okay sorry for the caps I'm still in shock honestly.

Our school actually placed 21st but of course I only know that because they posted the results and stuff on www.powerofthepen.com so if you wanna check that out!

I'm so glad though... Because Power of the Pen is not over yet. I have two little sisters and they both want to do Power of the Pen and I'm so proud and happy for that because this was honestly the best time of my life and I've never felt happier. These experiences have really and truly changed me and molded me into the person I am today, a stupid freshman. But in all seriousness convince everyone you know to do Power of the Pen because they won't regret it! I would do anything to go back.

And to any seventh graders reading this, TRY OUT FOR POWER OF THE PEN! My little sister, her name is Sydney, actually tried out for the team today and I'm so excited to hear whether she gets on or not. Have fun competing against her lol IM KIDDING I LOVE HER BUT YOU ARE ALL AMAZING INCREDIBLE SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS WRITERS! I wish everyone the best of luck for the 2016-2017 season. :)

OH and more news: my coaches want me and some other members from my team to come back and judge during practices and give advice to the team members this year so I am SO excited for that too. Power of the Pen lives on!

-Olivia