Battle of Words

             Today has been a very significant day for me. This is because this is the day of the 2^nd Voice of the Youth National Oratorical Competition-Division Level. This competition isn’t an ordinary one. Why? Simple. This school year, the Department of Education had cut down all competitions up to the division level only except for the Schools’ Press Conference.

        However, the Voice of the Youth Oratorical Contest is up to the National level. And there’s more. There are cash prizes not only for the contestant but also for the coach and the school. Indeed, such competition is very exciting. And what makes it more interesting for me is its nature as a public speaking tilt.

        Yeah, I really prepared hard for this. I even sacrificed a contest today just for it. And that contest isn’t ordinary. It’s a math quiz bee! Take note, it’s a math quiz! And yes, Math is my first love. Giving that contest up had been a very crucial decision for me.

        Anyway, back to the topic. I woke up early in the morning and prepared my clothes for the competition. It was actually a barong tagalong. Honestly, I would have preferred a suit because wearing barong tagalog for me is so itchy! But then, I had to wear such attire for it suits the theme.

        The first part of the competition was the interview portion. And, I would say that it was fine. I was able to answer all their questions at ease. Maybe, it’s because I really want to engage in conversations. After the interview portion, we had our lunch for an hour.

        Then, after the lunch break, the delivery of the oratorical piece or the oration proper immediately started. My number was 16. Yeah, I was really disappointed with that. Actually, whenever I’m in speaking contests, I always wish to draw a middle number. But then, I could not do anything about that so I just had to wait for the 15 contestants to deliver their pieces before I can go down and deliver mine.

        The oration proper was fine. I was able to deliver my piece well. I didn’t forget even a single word in my piece. I didn’t go over or beyond the allotted time. Everything turned out to be fine.

        Then, the moment of truth came in. It was the announcement of winners. The emcees announced the 3^rd placer. It wasn’t I. Then, they announced the 2^nd placer. Yeah, it was me. I was quite disappointed with that because only the champion shall advance to the cluster level. When they announced who the champion was as well as his garnered score, my agony got severe! Why? It’s because I found out that the difference of his score with mine is just 0.04%. Yeah, it’s a very small difference. It was really disappointing on my part but I could not do anything since the decision was final and irrevocable. Anyway, I can tell myself that I did my best.

        And that ended my journey in the 2^nd Voice of the Youth National Oratorical Competition.