When I tell people I am part of the Academic Decathlon team at my school, they usually reply with “What’s that?”. My response is usually that Academic Decathlon is a competition where we are tested in literature, economics, mathematics, history, science, music and art. It also includes giving a speech, being interviewed, then a Super Quiz where I get to collaborate with two of my teammates on the questions. Sounds like I am just going to school right? Not entirely. Because the rest of the team and I tested against schools all over California for the first time this last month in the State competition. And it is an experience I shall never forget.

We attend a charter school in Central California where we attend class one day a week and occasionally have online meetings to practice our speeches, interview questions, and quiz each other with flash cards. Simply we studied as hard as we could. Yet we were unaware of how hard our opponents were studying so when we arrived at the state competition, I for one was slightly taken back. We heard of teams who studied three hours a day, six days a week just for this. Another studied twelve hours a week. It was intimidating, especially considering we were the newbies, the greenies. We passed students studying together in the halls, watched as one team walked by in matching suits and saw others practicing their speeches as they paced the hallway. We accepted the fact that we wouldn't be going to nationals we were simply unprepared. Yet we weren't going to walk away now. We tested for five hours, filling in scantron after scantron, we gave our speeches, we answered our interview questions with a smile where it was due, and we threw our all into the super quiz. We did our best and we showed that we belonged among all the others. We may not have had the experience of the schools that had been at state for twenty years or even three, but we had the spirit. We walked out of the super quiz feeling as if we had won. And even though we found out the next day that we hadn't, we were still pleased with what we had accomplished in making it to state.

 Now, a few weeks later, I am still happy with what we have done, and excited for next year. I know what is coming, and know we will do better. I know that all the medals we watched being passed out, will be hanging around the necks of myself and my teammates next year. I know that next year, we will no longer be the unprepared newbies, but the victorious team.