Q: Who were you most surprised and proud of?
A: “[I was proud of] Alan Wright (9) and Anna Hallowell (10) because they are brand new. They’ve never done anything. Alan was in a very, very competitive event. He and Michael Shank (10) took third in Astronomy, and every person on that stage was a junior or senior. Anna had never done anything before and she worked with a young man who took second in state.”
Q: How do you think the new members did over all since the past years?
A: “It’s either you like this club, or you don’t. It’s like taking another class. Most of these kids are taking AP and higher level honors classes, so when they’re doing this, they’re studying another class. They are just dedicated because the ultimate goal is that they want to go to nationals, and we don’t pay our way there. You have to earn it.”
Q: Once the competition was over, how did you feel?
A: “The best thing is afterwards because then you have to wait after the competition is done.The anticipation, and when they call the first couple events, you hear the names of the kids in the club; that’s the moment that builds the season and the expectations the next time around. Everybody shoots for first place, but you don’t always get it because you compete against these other great schools.”
Q: What is your prediction for future competitions?
A: “[We want to] just keep getting better. This one wasn’t about winning. It was about taking the stronger kids that are the repeat kids and came back and putting some of the new kids and know what we’re doing. We’ll go out [to] one true invitational and try to put a team together [to] see how good we really are. It raises the level of expectations.”
Q: How do you think the seniors did in organizing the teams?
A: “[I think they did] outstanding. The funny thing is that’s why we’ve had the success. The seniors make the schedule, and they decide what’s there and they are the ones hearing and working. These kids really know what they are doing. Even the doubt sometimes, you just have to sit back and let it go. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t, but when it does its fun to see.”
