Crunch Time!

There are only 7 days left until our first performance of "Into the Woods"!!!! I am stressing out so much because this is the time when the play basically becomes MY LIFE. I live and breath the lines and lyrics!!!! The set isn't quite finished yet.... costumes are still being determined, and we haven't even run the full show in one rehearsal yet. Talk about pressure!!

I know we're going to pull it off, because somehow we always do. But this show seems to have crept up on all of us, and I think we all wish we had some more time to prepare. It's an incredibly difficult show to pull off - as our director told us when she announced it in May. I just feel like there's so much to be done! Even my mom is busy preparing for the first show, because she helps with decorating the lobby every year.

Our first performance is for the grammar schools, on Wednesday, March 25. This is always an energizing day, because the kids get so excited to see us perform. It gives us a boost of confidence for our opening night. On Thursday, we perform a section of the show for the student body. This is probably the most nerve-racking show because it's in front of all of our peers that we see everyday. Then we have another grammar school performance the following Wednesday.

I hope you all can come out and enjoy PAC's performances - It runs for five shows on two weekends, The 27th - 29th, and the 3rd - 4th!!! I know you'll be impressed with our professionalism, dedication, and love for the performing arts here at Union Catholic =)

UC Forensics Continues the Tradition of Excellence!!

On Saturday, I competed in my first forensics tournament of this year! It was the second meet of the Newark Catholic Forensics League. (Sadly I had to miss the first one due to a prior commitment). This means that there are 4 more competitions, once every month. After the results of all of the meets are combined, we know who has qualified for Nationals - which are always over Memorial Day Weekend, and will be in Albany this year. Anyway, down to the competition! It was held at Montville Township High School, so the team of about 16 traveled together in the UC Van, with some of the judges going in their cars. As always, the team met in one of the classrooms before the competition started to come together in pep and prayer! We all link hands in a circle and go around saying what we want to prayer for, and then together say the Our Father..... then we bang on the desks and chairs in a wild uproar, getting pumped to have fun and do our best!!!

And that is just what we did. We had many wins in many different categories. My partner and I got 2nd in Duo Interpretation, and our senior boy team got 4th in Duo. Then, our boys public forum debate team got 2nd, and a sophomore competing in Student Congress got 3rd. Two freshman girls won trophies also - one got 4th place in Declamation, and the other got 6th place in JV Oral Interpretation (Reading). Finally, a senior boy got 6th in Drama. Because our team received so many points, Union Catholic was ranked as 3rd at the competition! Everyone was so excited, and I could tell our coaches were really proud of us. The day before my partner and I spent 3 hours working on our piece, so it felt great to be rewarded for that. However, we're eager to practice some more and really perfect the little things. As you can tell, we're really serious about forensics, but we also have a bunch of fun too. There's often a lot of free time at competitions and at away tournaments, so everyone really bonds and shares a lot of laughs. Forensics has to be one of the funnest activities that I do! =)

I just came home from the first rehearsal for the Spring Musical, Into the Woods. We got a lot of paperwork from Mrs. Carolan, explaining the Company's policy and information. Then we started the "read through" of the script! Just by the first practice, everyone can tell that this show is going to be very challenging, but also really enjoyable at the same time.

I have to go do my homework now, so I'll talk to you all next week!