Round Robin! (Yum!)

Last Thursday our speech club held its first Round Robin. For those who don't know what a Round Robin is (or am I the only one?) it's like a regular speech competition--judges, postings, suits, ballots etc.--except only for practice.

This Round Robin was only for our club. We had about fourteen community judges, all invited by the parents. Some of them had years of experience judging speeches, others had never been to a speech tournament at all.

The round started at 2:15. Until then, my friends and I waited outside. It was somewhat comical to see two friends performing a humorous interp together on one side of the courtyard, while another friend silently practiced her dramatic interp facing the opposite wall. As for myself, I was far to nervous to do anything but twist my hands and pace up and down.

I delivered two speeches, two times each. That was a total of four times getting up in front of people. My old self could not have handled that much pressure. Yet with all this practice, public speaking is getting easier and easier. I was positive I was going to regret signing that piece of paper that let me into the speech club, but strange to say, I don't.

I love combining words--after all, I want to be an author one day--but I always hate having other people read them. Whenever I hand an essay or a story to someone to read, my heart is hammering at about 100 miles per hour. I'm never sure whether to stick around and wait for them to comment, or back off and let them critique without the added pressure of me staring them down. When I give a speech, on the other hand, I am in control. I decide how fast to go and where the emphasis belongs and can gauge their reactions.

It was sooo tempting, while giving my interp, to look at the judges and see how it was affecting them. Unfortunately, that is one of the few types of speeches where you're not allowed to make eye contact. However, after the Round Robin two of my judges came up to me and said my interp got them so angry at one of the characters, they wanted to jump out of their seats. On the outside I smiled and thanked them--on the inside I was like Yesss!!!

The Round Robin opened up my eyes to a lot of things that need work, such as speaking with more passion on my expos and exaggerating the characters' movements on my interp. I'm looking forward to the next RR, at the end of November, which will be in combination with several other clubs. Until then I have a lot of work to do.

Proverbs 14:23 "All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty."

Speech versus Writing: Which do you prefer? Why?

If I Hadn't Been Home Schooled...

Well, the PSAT went pretty well. I have no idea what my score will be, but all that studying made me a whole lot more confident than I felt last year.

The test was given in the library—a relatively large room with lots of small tables and wacky posters on the walls (Read! Don’t Be A Birdbrain!). Out of the two-dozen or so kids taking the test, five of us were home schoolers. We sat our own tables, staring at each other with wide eyes.

Seeing that none of the other kids sat by us, my friend leaned over, face dead serious. “I think they’re afraid of us.”

“I think I’m afraid of them.” I glanced around, feeling on the verge of tears—not because I was sad, but because this situation was so weird. I knew at least two of those kids by name. I had attended this school until second grade. The last time I saw these kids we were seven. When the teacher read the roll call, I recognized half of the names. She was the girl who introduced me to drinkable yogurt. He was the kid who teased me about the picture I drew. She was the girl who I always wanted to be friends with, but never had the nerve to talk to.

As I prepared to take the final section of the test, the woman timing us came over to the home school tables. “I was wrong; the test is actually a lot shorter than I thought. You guys can call your parents to have them come pick you up, or if you want you can stay until 12:36 and shadow a class."

What, was I going to say no? I’d always wondered what school might’ve been like if I’d never left. This was the perfect opportunity (not to mention, very useful in case I ever write a story where the main character is not home schooled).

Much as I tried to convince them to join me, my brother and his friend decided to wait in the car (my mom showed up shortly thereafter), so I braved the walk to the office alone. The woman there showed me a list of all the fifth period classes. My eye landed on English 3H. As we walked down the hall, I glanced around. A few kids were still running around, trying to make it to class on time. Some of the doors had already closed, and the steady voices of the teachers could be heard through them. We stopped. English 3H was already in session. I glanced at the woman who’d brought me. She wasn’t going to…yes, she did. She opened the door. A roomful of high schoolers gaped at me.

But she took command of the situation at once. “Hello! This is Rachel. She’s a home school student and she took the PSAT this morning. She wanted to see what a real class is like, with real people.” She laughed at her own joke. (O.K., yeah, ‘cause my brothers and sister aren’t actually real. They’re just robots.) 

The teacher smiled. “Of course, come on in, Rachel. We were just about to get started.”

The door closed behind me. For a moment I stood there, frantically looking around the room. Where should I sit? There were about nine tables to choose from, each with four students.

As I hesitated, the teacher motioned to the one nearest me. “Go ahead and sit right there. This is Carissa.” She motioned to the girl on my left.

We exchanged shy “hi’s” and I sat down. The chair screeched.

“Hi, I’m Tim.” The guy to my left raised his hands, as if in protest over not being introduced by the teacher. The other two kids at our table introduced themselves too, as did one random kid across the room.

“O.K., class. We’re studying Fahrenheit 451. Go ahead and pull out your books. We’ll start by making a list of the literary terms we remember from our study on The Scarlett Letter. Can anyone remind me what the first one was?”

And so, I settled back to enjoy my favorite subject—English. Well, actually I didn’t really settle back. I guess you’d describe it as leaning forward, anxious to learn something new, anxious to fit in, anxious to absorb everything around me. I was probably more excited to be there than any other kid.

When the teacher gave an assignment, the students pulled out their binder paper, and I pulled out my floral print journal--it was all I had to write on. Yep, I'm home schooled. 

All said, last Wednesday turned out far better than I'd hoped. I got to see kids I knew from second grade, and get a taste of something new. It got me wondering. I could have been one of those "other kids," watching the home schoolers from a safe distance. I could have been enrolled in English 3H, and got to learn all about imagery and diction. Those kids I didn't have the nerve to talk to might have been my best friends. 

But then I realized. If I learned about that stuff every week, would I take it for granted? Would I still love to write? What about all the people I've met and worked with and played with because I'm home schooled? Would I never have met them? The speech meeting was at our house the next night, and all I could think of was, if Mom had never pulled me out of school, none of these people would be here right now. It's like there's some kind of alternate dimension going on. 

Truth is, I don't have to worry about it. God knew exactly what he was doing when He called my mom to home school me. Everything that's happened is a part of His plan. All I have to do is trust Him. 

I'm reminded of this quote from Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis:

"'To know what would have happened, child?' said Aslan. 'No. Nobody is ever told that.'
'Oh dear,' said Lucy.
'But anyone can find out what will happen,' said Aslan."

Instead of worrying over what might have happened, I'll rejoice in what has happened and what is going to happen.

Joshua 1:9 

How long have you been home schooled? Do you ever wonder what might have happened if you weren't home schooled? 

What?! The PSAT Is Tomorrow?!?!

¹³ Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” ¹⁴ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. ¹⁵ Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” ¹⁶ As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. James 4:13-16 

Well, tomorrow is the PSAT. Every time I think about it, my eyes bulge out and I have to swallow a few times. I'm a junior this year, so it's the last time I can take it. That creates a whole lot of pressure. Now, of course, as my mom reminds me, the PSAT is not mandatory. Scoring high will only increase my chances of getting an early scholarship and make the colleges more interested in me. But still...I want to do my best. I want to do the best.

See, even Maria gets worried!

When we are under a lot of pressure in life (especially for us firstborns) the devil tends to creep in and implant doubts in our minds. Or maybe that's just our sin nature. Whatever the case, here are some of the worries that have been plaguing me over the past week:

1. Sure I've been studying a lot, but what if I'm not actually applying what I've learned? I have this head knowledge, but am I really using it to its best potential?

2. I took the little practice test the College Board offers, and I scored worse than last year. Have I improved at all?

3. What if I get a really hard test? You know, those few words I've never heard of appear on the critical reading section, or I get stuck on a complicated math problem.

4. So I don't have to get a perfect score...but what if I'm just plain lazy and end up making dumb mistakes?

I pondered all of this the other night, letting it eat away at me and make my stomach hurt. But then I realized--it doesn't matter. I mean, I still want to do my best, but worrying is not going to help anything. God has a purpose and a plan for my life. He knows what score I'll get, and He has a reason for that score. Maybe He doesn't want me to go to a Christian four-year college, like I dream of doing. Maybe He wants me to go to the junior college and then transfer. Or maybe He wants me to go to a state university.

As a matter of fact, any number of things could happen to keep me from even taking the PSAT tomorrow. I could get sick, or get in a car wreck, or Jesus could come back today!!! So what am I worrying for?

Prayer: Jesus, please help me not to fret about the PSAT. Help me to trust in You, and to have faith that what ever happens is a part of Your plan. I can do nothing without You. Amen.

Are you taking the PSAT tomorrow? Are you worried? Confident? Hopeful? I'd love some company!

Where iMovie and History Meet

When my mom told me that my brother and I had to do a history project, I immediately groaned. Great, another report to write. Not that I dislike writing reports--there is, after all, something delightful about collecting bits of information from here and there and everywhere and organizing them into one long thought--but they can get to be boring, and I had a lot of other papers to write.

This, however, was no ordinary assignment. Mom handed me a long list of possible activities, everything from cooking a Colonial meal to delivering a famous speech. My eye immediately lit on one in particular. "Act out a scene from history."

It didn't take long to convince my techie brother to pull out imovie and we set to work. We chose General Braddock's Defeat. He was General Braddock and Colonel Washington. I was Random Indian, Random British Soldier, and Narrator. For narration, we read aloud from the history book, and in the background we played Lord of the Rings soundtrack.

We had a ton of fun making it. Our little sister especially loved the part where she got to run up and stick the arrow under General Braddock's arm. In all, I think it turned out pretty well--corny as it was. We certainly had a lot of laughs.

Job 8:21 "He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy."










Do you make movies with your siblings and/or friends? What's the most fun project you've ever been assigned?

Four-What?

I'd always heard about 4-H. My mom participated in it when she was a girl, and I had a few friends in it as well. But the chances that my siblings or I would ever join...highly unlikely. I didn't even know what the four H's stood for.


Until last year. My mom announced the news to me in a rather quiet fashion, telling me to walk to the elementary school after swim practice. So I showed up at the first meeting, hair dripping down the back of my shirt, goggle marks under my eyes, a backpack the size of Africa on my shoulders.

The meeting was already in session. I paused in the doorway, scanning the roomful of unfamiliar faces. People sat at tables which folded down from the wall. At the far end of the room someone was talking into a microphone, but most of the audience seemed preoccupied with whispering to each other, or doing homework, or turning around to stare at the newbie who walked in late.

I swallowed, wishing I could slip right back out the door and vanish. As quickly as I could, I snuck into a back seat and slipped off my backpack. Mom found me before I had a chance to catch my breath.

"You need to sign up for some of these projects in the back." She pointed to a long row of clipboards.

I nodded and stood up, feeling awkward again as I peered over people's shoulders to read the sign-up sheets. Almost every single project had to do with animals. And I knew from asking (what, a hundred times?) that there was no way my parents would let me raise a pig, or a cow, or goats. Nor did I have the slightest desire to do so anymore.

After some long deliberation, I settled on graphic design, flower arranging, and speech.

My brother and I in our 4-H uniforms

Well, 4-H definitely got better than that first meeting, but most of my projects flopped. I dropped out of flower arranging because of my busy schedule. Graphic design turned out to be an art class (for some reason I thought we would be using computers).

Speech, however, was fun. I did an interpretive reading from The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien, and won gold at State Presentation Day.

This year I ran for office--Club Reporter--and was elected. Honestly, being reporter is now my favorite part of 4-H. I've had three articles published in our local paper, and I now understand a lot more about how 4-H works. I even have the pledge (almost) memorized. In fact, my initial dislike of 4-H has been completely reversed.


If you've never given 4-H a try, I encourage you to do so. You can make new friends and learn lots of important life skills. Most of all, don't be passive. Get involved in your club and and stick it out for more than one year. Otherwise, you'll simply be wasting your time.


Colossians 3:23 "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men,"

Are you in 4-H? If so, what are your thoughts? Have you ever stuck with something you didn't like, only to end up loving it?