One of those tearful moments

So I had an awesome thing happen during class.
As many of you know, I am a Forensics coach...and no that title has nothing to do with dead bodies...but lots to do with competitive speech and theatre and drama and public speaking. Many folks are completely confused as  to what it means so you are not alone. But this BEAST is entirely different than say Drama One, where you are learning basics. Forensics takes it all to the next level. SO not only do you have to know how to act and create characters, but you have to infuse all that knowledge into poetry pieces, or prose, or an oratory, or into an improvised scene you create in a 30 minute time frame and THEN you throw in tournaments around the state and you got an idea of what it all begins to look like.
For a new student, this can be overwhelming.
Last year, I had a young lady who was very timid and shy. She barely spoke for the entire semester...and when she did speak, usually she was quiet, timid, reserved and thoughtful. She always had something terrific to say in feedback...she was just quiet in doing so. As the year went on, she began to grow more confident and I could see that she had potential to be a part of the Forensics program if she could get past the jitters of auditions and get into the classroom structure. There was a sparkle to her eyes and her smile is terrific and I could tell she would do very well in competition.
She auditioned very well and made the squad.
This year begins and she is just as timid and shy as she was last year. In the back of my mind, I kept saying to myself..."OH OH, is she going to make it? Is she sinking with her ship?" She just kept to herself a great deal. Touch bases with her proved otherwise...she seemed to be getting what we were teaching her...and she seemed ok...it is just in her nature to be quiet and reserved.
Skip ahead to to tournament auditions this week. She gets up and auditions with her poetry piece And it BLEW US ALL AWAY!!!!! She got up there with her sweet smile and politely asked if she need to ask if her judge and time keeper were ready. We told her yes and she opened her black book and began her poetry performance.
It was filled with wonderful wonderful writing and her performance was filled with such powerful  emotion and honesty. There was a moment where I had to catch myself as the tears began. I am just so proud of her! I cannot wait until she gets to go to tournament and experience those moments because this journey she has taken is extraordinary. I am just so honored to have been able to witness this journey and am excited to see the possibilities of her year ahead!!!