A Reward Within

For this entry I shall post the article I wrote for my school's newsletter

The article contained my reflections on the Chubu Regional Speech Contest

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A Reward Within

I had a little bit of experience working in a speech contest environment before this past one. One of the things I did while I lived in Kofu-cho was work with students on their speeches. I showed up for all their practices working on pronunciation, flow, and rhythm among other aspects. We worked hard but came out of the contest without an award. It hit me hard but it was important to understand that hard work in and of itself is valuable, though it may not seem like it at first.

This year I worked with my own students for the Chubu Regional Speech Contest. They worked hard. I cannot stress that point enough, and no amount of words I add to that statement can make it more powerful. They simply worked hard. Over all those sessions I witnessed great change in all of my students. They all started off impressively and worked towards becoming incredible. I cannot thank or congratulate them enough for all their outstanding efforts over the past weeks.

At the contest they performed without fail. Each executed his or her speech flawlessly and with the kind of confidence in their abilities that was truly admirable. One by one I applauded as I was both impressed and proud of their recitals. I knew the students were proud as well for I could see the smiles upon their faces after each finished.

Alas, the judgment time came. As we all sat with bated breath names were slowly called one at a time. And in this moment I was perhaps the most proud of my students. Their names were not called, but they applauded with all their might, and kept their heads held high for the remainder of the ceremony.

We came back to the school not with awards, but with the spirit of competition burning brighter than ever. For that I thank them and for that I will never forget this event.

Thank you Souhei-san, Hikari-san, Hayato-san, and Kana-san.

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I couldn't be more proud of you guys.


-J