26 - Our Best Is NOT ENOUGH
"Our best isn't enough."
The one thing I kept on saying to myself OVER and OVER again on the way home. To start, I competed in the Inter-Class Public Speaking Competition this morning, and boy, what a day to start the morning than with a public speaking competition. Personally, I aimed for a spot in that competition, 3 or 4 weeks ago. By preparing for the selection of the 6 participants for each block, I managed to be one of the 6 public speakers in my block, earning me a ticket to the competition. At first, I wondered why we were so many, the thought of having a competition wherein 6 participants for each and every block scared me. I expected that there would be people who are far greater than I, and that significantly damaged my hopes and ideals of winning.
The weeks went by so slowly, day after day, night after night, I kept on revising my speech. The first revision was done by our professor, who managed to correct most parts of my speech. Then came the second, third, fourth, and fifth—all of which I revised along with help from other sources. Before the final revision was made, I heavily considered "arming" my speech for the competition. I first timed how long the speech took, then I factored in the length of my speech (if it was full or unnecessary words or not). I was shocked when I ran the tests because my speech took a full 8 minutes, which exceeded the 5-minute maximum speech length in the competition.To cut the story short, the fifth revision of my speech was 943 words and the final revision of my speech only had 700 words.
I removed 243 words from my speech in one day. Despite removing a large amount of words out of my speech, I still was not done, oh no. I read, reread, and proofread my speech the following day, and I found out some errors in my speech. After revising so many times, my speech finally reached "RTM" (which is, technically, the final version of any software). I considered the development of my speech as the development of the Windows operating system. Consider this: the speech I delivered in front of my class 3 or 4 weeks ago was build 10240, and the build of the speech I delivered in the auditorium this morning was build 12555. I revised my speech so much, I trimmed the main point of my original speech and I added a completely new main point to my speech; whereas, the chosen representatives in my block only changed, like, 5-6 sentences with a new paragraph at the most.
Nevertheless, my hard work in revising my speech paid off (sort of). After having been chosen as one of the representatives in my block, I was finally ready for the elimination round. A round where 8 participants would give their speeches in a classroom, and only 2 of the 8 participants get chosen. After I gave my speech, a bunch of other speakers spoke in front. At first I thought, "Oh God, they are surely better than me. This guy's speech is funny, witty, and has a touch of humor. Ah well, there goes my ticket to speaking in the auditorium." After 5 more speakers (I was the third), we all went up to the auditorium for the announcement of speakers who have made it into the final round.
The announcement of speakers for the final round. The moment of truth. As they slowly gave out the names, my heart was beating so fast, I could almost hear it thumping in my chest. My brain was still recovering from the shock from the speakers who (I thought) performed better than me. Suddenly, I heard someone call my name, and as I looked up, I saw my name on the list. YES! I got in, I am one of the speakers who have made it to the final round!
A few minutes pass and it was my time to go up on stage to give my speech. My heart was pumping, my blood was rushing, my adrenaline was kicking in, I was ready. I successfully delivered my speech without forgetting a single line from my speech. I knew, deep in my heart, that I tried my best. I had my best posture, my best movements, my best hand gestures, I even wore my best set of clothes just for the occasion. I was asked questioned (and I think) I answered it as best as I can, using 100% of my knowledge of, like, everything.
They said that the announcements would be made after the IGNITE Presenation and the Speech Choir Competition, so I gladly waited until the announcement was made. After listening to a bunch of IGNITE speakers, and after seeing so many good speech choir performances, it was time for the awarding ceremony. They first announced the names of th winners in the Inter-Class Public Speaking Competition. The 2nd runner up was called, the other guy in my room. Then came the 1st runner up, no big deal. Then, it was time for the champion to be called. I heard my blockmates shout my name out loud and I felt time grind to a halt as the name of the winner slipped through Sir Deeno's mouth.
My name wasn't called. My heart immediately sank to the bottom of my stomach. I felt a jolt run down my spine was my head (for no apparent reason) was pushed backward (it is a common mannerism of mine, I guess it is a response to extreme nervousness). My whole body almost sank in the chair at the auditorium as the excitement on the faces of my blockmates immediately turned cold and confused. "Where did I go wrong?" was the first thing I thought of after realizing that I did not even get a place in the final competition.
"Our best simply isn't enough," was the thought that lingered in my mind after the awarding. Despite my block winning "The Best AVP" award and becoming the 1st runner up in the Speech Choir Competition, I cannot help but keep on thinking about the competition. Losing has left a sour taste in my mouth.
I am not (usually) a person who gets bummed out when I lose. Everyone in my high school knows that I took my lost place in the Regional Secondary Schools Press Conference (R.S.S.P.C.) like a bullet and shrugged it off. What made this experience different?
What made this competition different from all the other competitions I have ever joined was that this was the first competition that I took seriously. I can forget about my 10th place in the Division Journalism Qualifiers Contest for Private Schools, I can forget about my 4th place in the 6th Division Secondary Schools Press Conference and Contest (D.S.S.P.C.), I can forget about all my other awards and certificates in my past competitions because I never really took them seriously.
In the past, everything was like "OK, sure, time to compete, blah, blah, blah." I took it easily and shrugged off my time for practice. But this, my first public speaking competition, this is way different. I took this seriously. I memorized my speech down to the final sentence. I practiced my voice modulation, my hand gestures, my posture. I rehearsed so many times. I revised my speech so many times.
I poured every last ounce of my blood, sweat, and tears into practicing, but in the end, it was all in vain.
Sure, losing does leave a sour taste in my mouth, and I will probably regret that I did not win. I did try my best, but I realized that my best simply was not enough. It was not enough for the judges and for the audience. Which leads me to my final saying: it is time to improve. The all-English term has drawn to a close, the teachers are finalizing my grades as we speak, and I am sure no one else is monitoring the blogs for the English Enrichment Program anymore.
I have a lot of time on my hands again and it is time to do something good, something constructive, something that will rid me all of the grime, dust, and dirt I have accumulated for my first term at Asia Pacific College (and my college life as a whole). It is time to restart.
I tried my best, but that does not mean that it will always stay like that. Now that I have a lot of time on my hands again, I will use this to practice, improve, and further strengthen the foundations I have laid out during my first term.
Trying my best and losing simply means that my best was not good enough, which calls for improvement. It is time to set the bar even higher and try to run through it again. This time, on a different field, with a new audience, and a whole new set of hurdles.
Still, at least I tried my best.
The one thing I kept on saying to myself OVER and OVER again on the way home. To start, I competed in the Inter-Class Public Speaking Competition this morning, and boy, what a day to start the morning than with a public speaking competition. Personally, I aimed for a spot in that competition, 3 or 4 weeks ago. By preparing for the selection of the 6 participants for each block, I managed to be one of the 6 public speakers in my block, earning me a ticket to the competition. At first, I wondered why we were so many, the thought of having a competition wherein 6 participants for each and every block scared me. I expected that there would be people who are far greater than I, and that significantly damaged my hopes and ideals of winning.
The weeks went by so slowly, day after day, night after night, I kept on revising my speech. The first revision was done by our professor, who managed to correct most parts of my speech. Then came the second, third, fourth, and fifth—all of which I revised along with help from other sources. Before the final revision was made, I heavily considered "arming" my speech for the competition. I first timed how long the speech took, then I factored in the length of my speech (if it was full or unnecessary words or not). I was shocked when I ran the tests because my speech took a full 8 minutes, which exceeded the 5-minute maximum speech length in the competition.To cut the story short, the fifth revision of my speech was 943 words and the final revision of my speech only had 700 words.
I removed 243 words from my speech in one day. Despite removing a large amount of words out of my speech, I still was not done, oh no. I read, reread, and proofread my speech the following day, and I found out some errors in my speech. After revising so many times, my speech finally reached "RTM" (which is, technically, the final version of any software). I considered the development of my speech as the development of the Windows operating system. Consider this: the speech I delivered in front of my class 3 or 4 weeks ago was build 10240, and the build of the speech I delivered in the auditorium this morning was build 12555. I revised my speech so much, I trimmed the main point of my original speech and I added a completely new main point to my speech; whereas, the chosen representatives in my block only changed, like, 5-6 sentences with a new paragraph at the most.
Nevertheless, my hard work in revising my speech paid off (sort of). After having been chosen as one of the representatives in my block, I was finally ready for the elimination round. A round where 8 participants would give their speeches in a classroom, and only 2 of the 8 participants get chosen. After I gave my speech, a bunch of other speakers spoke in front. At first I thought, "Oh God, they are surely better than me. This guy's speech is funny, witty, and has a touch of humor. Ah well, there goes my ticket to speaking in the auditorium." After 5 more speakers (I was the third), we all went up to the auditorium for the announcement of speakers who have made it into the final round.
The announcement of speakers for the final round. The moment of truth. As they slowly gave out the names, my heart was beating so fast, I could almost hear it thumping in my chest. My brain was still recovering from the shock from the speakers who (I thought) performed better than me. Suddenly, I heard someone call my name, and as I looked up, I saw my name on the list. YES! I got in, I am one of the speakers who have made it to the final round!
A few minutes pass and it was my time to go up on stage to give my speech. My heart was pumping, my blood was rushing, my adrenaline was kicking in, I was ready. I successfully delivered my speech without forgetting a single line from my speech. I knew, deep in my heart, that I tried my best. I had my best posture, my best movements, my best hand gestures, I even wore my best set of clothes just for the occasion. I was asked questioned (and I think) I answered it as best as I can, using 100% of my knowledge of, like, everything.
They said that the announcements would be made after the IGNITE Presenation and the Speech Choir Competition, so I gladly waited until the announcement was made. After listening to a bunch of IGNITE speakers, and after seeing so many good speech choir performances, it was time for the awarding ceremony. They first announced the names of th winners in the Inter-Class Public Speaking Competition. The 2nd runner up was called, the other guy in my room. Then came the 1st runner up, no big deal. Then, it was time for the champion to be called. I heard my blockmates shout my name out loud and I felt time grind to a halt as the name of the winner slipped through Sir Deeno's mouth.
My name wasn't called. My heart immediately sank to the bottom of my stomach. I felt a jolt run down my spine was my head (for no apparent reason) was pushed backward (it is a common mannerism of mine, I guess it is a response to extreme nervousness). My whole body almost sank in the chair at the auditorium as the excitement on the faces of my blockmates immediately turned cold and confused. "Where did I go wrong?" was the first thing I thought of after realizing that I did not even get a place in the final competition.
"Our best simply isn't enough," was the thought that lingered in my mind after the awarding. Despite my block winning "The Best AVP" award and becoming the 1st runner up in the Speech Choir Competition, I cannot help but keep on thinking about the competition. Losing has left a sour taste in my mouth.
I am not (usually) a person who gets bummed out when I lose. Everyone in my high school knows that I took my lost place in the Regional Secondary Schools Press Conference (R.S.S.P.C.) like a bullet and shrugged it off. What made this experience different?
What made this competition different from all the other competitions I have ever joined was that this was the first competition that I took seriously. I can forget about my 10th place in the Division Journalism Qualifiers Contest for Private Schools, I can forget about my 4th place in the 6th Division Secondary Schools Press Conference and Contest (D.S.S.P.C.), I can forget about all my other awards and certificates in my past competitions because I never really took them seriously.
In the past, everything was like "OK, sure, time to compete, blah, blah, blah." I took it easily and shrugged off my time for practice. But this, my first public speaking competition, this is way different. I took this seriously. I memorized my speech down to the final sentence. I practiced my voice modulation, my hand gestures, my posture. I rehearsed so many times. I revised my speech so many times.
I poured every last ounce of my blood, sweat, and tears into practicing, but in the end, it was all in vain.
Sure, losing does leave a sour taste in my mouth, and I will probably regret that I did not win. I did try my best, but I realized that my best simply was not enough. It was not enough for the judges and for the audience. Which leads me to my final saying: it is time to improve. The all-English term has drawn to a close, the teachers are finalizing my grades as we speak, and I am sure no one else is monitoring the blogs for the English Enrichment Program anymore.
I have a lot of time on my hands again and it is time to do something good, something constructive, something that will rid me all of the grime, dust, and dirt I have accumulated for my first term at Asia Pacific College (and my college life as a whole). It is time to restart.
I tried my best, but that does not mean that it will always stay like that. Now that I have a lot of time on my hands again, I will use this to practice, improve, and further strengthen the foundations I have laid out during my first term.
Trying my best and losing simply means that my best was not good enough, which calls for improvement. It is time to set the bar even higher and try to run through it again. This time, on a different field, with a new audience, and a whole new set of hurdles.
Still, at least I tried my best.
