Global Wandering

Yesterday I drove with Camden and a few of his classmates to Arco, Idaho. Arco is a town of about 1,000 people in the middle of Idaho, depending on how you define middle. It is big enough to have its own Wikipedia entry, where I learned the town used to be called Root Hog. They should have named it Frozen Hog because as we drove higher and higher in elevation, the temperature kept dropping so that by the time we arrived within the city limits the car’s thermometer read -4 degrees Fahrenheit.

The purpose of the trip was to attend a regional Academic Decathalon (Acadeca) meeting. Acadeca, as its name would suggest, is a competition where schools compete in ten different academic subjects. Most of the events are written tests. There is also a speech and interview portion. Despite never having been to an Acadeca meeting, I was asked to be a judge for speeches and interviews.

I was paired with a fellow judge, who was also an Acadeca novice. We turned out to have much in common so we enjoyed the day chatting between speeches and interviews, at one point getting so engrossed in a conversation that we didn’t realize the next contestant had been waiting for fifteen minutes outside the room.

Judging speeches was interesting, but not nearly as enjoyable as the interview portion. High school students are not known for opening up to adults, particularly to complete strangers. Hence, it was fascinating to be handed a resume from a sixteen year old student and given ten minutes to question her about life.

One student spoke of her dream to attend college, but said she could only go if she got a scholarship. Otherwise, she would join the Air Force. I have nothing against the military, but I wonder how many students join because they don’t see any other way to get an education.

Another student was from Preston, Idaho⎯the infamous town from the movie Napoleon Dynamite. On her resume, this student listed she was a member of the Good Hands Club. In the movie, Napoleon Dynamite is a member The Happy Hands Club, an American sign language singing group (click here if you want to see or purchase a sculpture of Napoleon performing “The Rose”). Apparently, the Happy Hands Club has been in Preston for years, only it is known as the Good Hands Club. This student spoke of her experiences of being able to communicate with the deaf from what she learned at the Good Hands Club.

Our last interview was with a freshman with a lengthy list of clubs and activities on her resume. She spoke of going to bed at midnight and waking up a 3 AM to study. Clearly she was overcommitted and stressed, but spoke of recently joining the Mayor’s Youth Council.

Ten minutes is not very long. Too little time to give the advice I would liked to have given these students. Hopefully, they will find mentors that will listen to them for hours instead of minutes and guide them through some treacherous years. Jenn's recent post shows how difficult high school years can be.