Hajra Sarfraz Argument

“And in first place, your Oral Interpretation Champion… Hajra Sarfraz.” With those words I was forced to break out of the trance I was in. I mechanically moved my legs forward and accepted my trophy. In that moment, while I gazed at the hundreds of people clapping for me, all I could think was, how did I end up here? I joined my school’s Speech team my sophomore year, taking part in the category of Oral Interpretation in which I take two 10-minute prose and poetry pieces and perform them. I was an eager member of the team, excited to perform pieces I cared about. I spent hours after school each day practicing my pieces. I worked with various varsity members and the coaches. Each one of them would give me notes on how I could improve. All
I began to question everything I was taught and my own beliefs. I was told that if someone worked hard and put the effort in, he or she would see results. That clearly was not the case with me. No matter how much I practiced, it didn't seem to help. I contemplated whether or not I should quit the team. Several people had done it and there was nothing stopping me from following their
During tournaments I had ten minutes to give others a reason to care about what I was saying. This was much more important to me than doing well. With this mindset I went to my seventh tournament of the year. I happily performed my pieces in each round and watched with joy as others performed their pieces. I was eating a turkey sandwich for lunch when I heard my name being announced. I had advanced for the first time ever. As I made my way to the final round, I told myself to just perform and not expect anything in return. When the end of the tournament came around and places were announced I was left awe stuck to hear that I got first place. Doing well was an amazing feeling, but it will never replace the feeling of seeing a new piece for the first time or hearing someone laugh at one of the jokes in my piece. I’m glad that I stuck with speech even when things weren’t going well. Thanks to this preservation I stayed a member of the Speech team and am part of a wonderful community of performers. No amount of success could ever replace