(Fun fact: Though she may not know it, Felicity is the first CHSADK I met who was not in my club. Funner fact: She's really funny. Please give a big high-five to the author of our secondever Guest Post!)
This season, I did an OI from a children’s literature series, the Berenstain Bears. Since I had pretty much decided it wouldn’t break at all at any tournament, I set goals for myself that were unrelated to breaking. One of them was making all my timers laugh during the piece, since the series is geared for kids anyways. (Another reason is that kids have short attention spans. Having to sit through speeches for over an hour must be really boring and repetitive! I wanted those kids to be entertained, not bored stiff.) As I waited for the judges to be ready, standing there in front of the audience, I looked at my timer and prayed, “Lord, if no one enjoys this piece, at least let my timer like it and be entertained.”
If you have ever made your timer laugh (or even better, cry!), then I commend you. Those kids are tough cookies! They won’t laugh at just anything! I would have rounds, where all the adults were hollering up a storm, but my timer was not even amused. So, it is definitely no easy task. Yet, that’s the fun of it! You are presented with a challenge, and in order to meet it, you will need to step up your game, put your best foot forward, and really try. When I realized a timer wasn’t even chuckling, I worked especially hard to do my best. This improved my overall performance.
Sometimes, you’ll find that only your timer laughs. Yet, for the reasons stated above, that’s not entirely a bad thing. I would leave rounds thinking, “Sure, my judges were stone cold silent – but hey, my timer loved it, so I’m happy.” When I look back on this year, I feel this was one of my main accomplishments, and was more rewarding to me than any trophy.
You’re homeschooled, and you like it when your timers laugh.
“Their sides hurt, their face hurt, tears rolled down their cheeks!”
- My Berenstain Bears OI
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