Over the course of the season, I took kids out to compete 26 times. That's 26 times I was either up early, out late, or both. Twenty 26 times I visited tab rooms to anxiously await results. Twenty-six times I got to inform students that they either medaled or came up disappointingly short.
There just isn't a great way to describe the thrill of getting to see a student succeed in this competition. When you spend as much time as they do perfecting their craft, talking to walls, making a pause in a performance last a heartbeat longer, emphasizing the exact right word in a delivery...well, it all gets a little overwhelming.
But when they can come away with something that recognizes all their hard work, it's extremely satisfying to me as a coach: to see that moment when their eyes light up when I tell them they made it in to finals for the first time ever; to see their smile when they realize they got a "1" on a ballot; to see them tear up when they fail...
Because that's the other side of the coin, isn't it? That there are going to be times when it doesn't work out. That there will be times when they try really, really hard and still fail. That they will realize that there's always someone out there who is just a little bit better than they are.
Even that is a little thrilling. If I see a student shrug off a bad performance like it was not big deal, I actually get a little concerned. Because if losing doesn't matter to them, then perhaps they never really cared at all.
I'm not saying that we shouldn't be prepared to move on when we fail. That's the exact skill we're trying to teach, isn't it? But when we fail at achieving something we really, really want, we learn so much more than if we fail at something we DIDN'T really care about. This morning I failed at making my bed before I left the house. Did I learn from my failure? Not really, because at this particular moment in my adult life, I couldn't really care less even if a live raccoon were making a nest in my bed while I was gone during the day.
But when you picture yourself being on the final stage at State all season and find out that someone else beat you there, that's a tough pill to swallow. And at that point, the focus shifts to the intrinsic value of trying your hardest. Because after all, great competitors chase perfection, knowing that they're never going to attain it, but striving anyway. And that's a big deal.
I was lucky to get to take 15 students to State this year. We might not get that many next year, but the journey to achieve something great will still be well worth it.
