It was weird driving home from Nakamun without starting to panic about next year's studying. I mean, it wasn't a bad weird feeling and it wasn't a nervous weird feeling... Just plain weird. Weird to know that I'm not gonna be on the benches anymore...
Nakamun was a great meet... It kind of felt like a redemption of something. NEXT 1 finally made it to championships and NEXT 2 did amazingly in the rookie division yet again! There were some really tight quizzes and intense moments between taking my melatonin too early (whoops) and being a grade 12 murder suspect, telling people that I heard screaming in the night. I got a really good question right in a really fast quiz, so I was proud of myself for that.
The funny things that happened: Switching rooms on the second night because Lana and I were staying up for the later curfew, Hannah losing her iPod (which was totally not funny but since we scared the living daylights out of a bunch of people who thought that Hannah's poi were UFO's and got ice cream, it made up for it), and the coaches' quiz. Oooh the coaches' quiz. Jon decided to imitate me during a time out... I'm not sure if I'm really that hyperactive during quizzes or if he was overacting... -shrug-. Both quizzes I coached the coaches and in both quizzes I think we got one right answer (which was beautifully mimed) but their imitations were hilarious!
So, yes, I had a great last meet... Being in grade 12 was fun :oP I didn't even cry when they called everyone up for the grade 12 keychain thingys. I think I was just too pre-occupied with the fact that it was such a fun meet.
And, with that, I think I can honestly say that I've had a good year for the most part, and learned a lot, both this season and during my time as a quizzer. I guess this final blog post is a 'farewell' to both the benches and this blog. In the 4 years that I've quizzed I have learned so much and realized that I am capable of so much more than I realized. I am looking forward to whatever happens next (which hopefully involves coaching) and wish all of you quizzers who haven't graduated good luck for next year! And hey, I'll be starting another blog, 'Beyond the Benches', as soon as I start doing coach-type stuff... Who knows? Maybe I'll even make a page for coaching tips that I gather along the way. I will still be accepting tips from other quizzers to put on the site, and if anyone would like to pick up the flashcards from where I left off, feel free.
Thanks to everyone who's been there for me... My fellow NEXTers for being the biggest bunch of bananas I get to hang out with every week, Troy and Jon for being awesome coaches, Patricia and Lana for being awesome teammates and teaching me how to jump, Mrs. Put for sticking around and all the people who put Quizzing together... These have been an amazing four years that I never want back :o)
So question of the blog, everyone: What has been your favourite book to quiz on? Personally, John was my favourite. My personal stats weren't as great that year as they had been previously but I could play the movie in my head and there is so much great stuff in there :o)
So, for the last time...
Quizzers... UNITE!!!
Maegan
PS... See you in 'Beyond the Benches'!!
So, guys, the Southgate meet. Let's start there.
It was a fun meet, I must say. First night induced a slight panic (okay, maybe not very slight), but the quiz had gone well... I was just getting really worked up over... Well, not nothing but nothing worth panicking over. However, I got more sleep than I thought I would (thanks Melatonin!) and woke up motivated and ready to quiz the next morning. The quizzes in the morning weren't that bad, but not really that great either. NEXT 1 was really in the zone, but in the end we ended up in consolation. We were happy though... It wasn't like we had quizzed badly, and hey, I made a good point during a challenge... I wasn't the one who challenged, but I used the rule book and stuff :oP So I'm proud of myself for making a legitimate point in a challenge. NEXT 2 did fabulously and ended up in finals in the rookie division yet again :o) Seriously, those guys are unbeatable.
I wish I had more to say in this update but I'm afraid that most of the meet is a blur for me, except the challenge and making another awesome story up during the light testing... That was fun!
I've been studying a lot more since that meet, especially since I didn't qualify for Great West. It really is a shame since I won't have the chance...
WHAT? Oh yeah, I didn't mention that. Even though I'm only 15 and have been registered as a grade 11 quizzer all year, I will be taking post-secondary schooling (a teacher training program at Edmonton School of Ballet, hopefully, if not then I'll be going to Concordia for my Bachelor of Arts in Music) in the Fall and will as a result be ineligible to quiz anymore :o( I'm hoping to coach in the Fall and will continue to put any tips I get, or anything I come up with for memory up in the site. I will be starting a new blog... I think I'll call it "Beyond the Benches" or something like that. It might be less interesting, maybe more... who knows? You'll just have to stay tuned for that!
On that note, I might as well start mentioning Nakamun... My final finals. I've been preparing my brains out as I would really like to have less than 10 errors in my last quiz meet... Wouldn't you? Anyways, I'm getting ready for that. I'm likely gonna miss getting the grade 12 pin and stuff since I have to be back home for kids ministry and dance team on Sunday morning/afternoon, but I'll savour the moments that I have while I'm out there and still a quizzer. Keep an eye here for my last blog post in "Tales of a Quizzer"... It'll likely be kinda sentimental and emotional, probably have a lot of bad jokes in attempt to lighten the moment, and give you an idea of when I'll start blogging as a coach or tablestaff or something cool and awesome like that.
Until then, question of the blog: When are you graduating? If you already graduated, how do you recommend spending my last meet? Any cool stuff that I should do while I still have the chance? (No, I'm not going up to answer a question and lying on the floor for 30 seconds) (... or am I?)
Quizzers... UNITE!
Maegan
Do you miss me? ... I know I shouldn't ask these questions. Oh well. Since its been such a lonng time, I guess I should start with Great West, hey?
So... The Englers were kind enough to take me with them in their vehicle to Chamisall... Thanks Englers! We sang songs all the way from Cochrine to camp... it was awesome! The first night we tried to watch a movie but half way through it stopped working. We also tried to play a game, but it was IMPOSSIBLE!!! You try to balance a ball on a board with STRINGS, walk across the room, and put the ball through a hole in the board into a basket. I think that one tea got one in, but that was luck...
On the Friday we did some practice quizzes, and I did well, I'm not gonna lie. I was on a team with Tomi, Kyle, April, and Heather... And even though we didn't get into championships (which was probably my fault... heh heh) we won consolation! WOOT!!!!!! Snowmen were built, jokes were made, we nicknamed Ben (he is now Kutchmababins... if thats how its spelled), and it was an all-around great weekend. Personally, I came in 35th or something crazy like that, with an average of about 9 (I'm rounding to make myself feel better) and 15 errors.
After that, I resolved to copy out the material 15 times. I tried... but it didn't happen. :o(
Nakamun came pretty fast after that, and with only Love According to John and study week between GW and Nak... it was insane! NEXT went in head first though, and we rocked it. Our cabin was awesome, as we all respected each other's needs to sleep, studied together, made up really stupid moose and monkey stories with watermelon... but nobody's gonna understand that...
NEXT 1 decided to take the long road to championships, placing 4th in the morning, and starting the afternoon with a 2nd and 3rd. So... we had a LOT of quizzes after that. BUT! Even though my mom was sweating bullets and each quiz came down to the last question (literally, out last 4 quizzes of the afternoon were all either tie-breakers or last-question-makes-or-breaks-this quizzes), in the end we made it to finals, and we were all ecstatic, especially since it was Jon's last quiz meet, and probably Troy's last time coaching us.
Nat's qualifiers went well, I got, like, 5 right or something, and I was awful proud of myself. Didn't make the team, but I'll admit, I wasn't quizzing very well this year anyways, and would've brought the team down anyways.
Finals finally came around, and it was an intense quiz, and we came in second to Foothills 2... which wasn't a bad thing, because, as Troy would say, it's not that bad when you lose to a team thats genuinely better than you.
Jon went out with a bang... he placed 9th! Sadly, Jon graduated at Nakamun, and I think I speak for everyone at Next when I say, we're gonna miss him. Not only cause he's extremely good at quizzing, cause he is, but because practices are going to be really boring without his puns. well, that is if we don't somehow convince him to coach... Keep your fingers crossed for our convincing skills!
While I'm being emotional here, Troy is probably leaving us, too. Its not gonna be the same... Troy got NEXT 1 to where we are... He is the best coach EVER! I'll admit, I cried when we had to leave, knowing that Jon and Laura wouldn't be on the benches with us, and Troy probably wasn't going to be coaching, but I'm trying to look ahead. I'm trying to get Lana and Patricia all psyched up for next year, I don't know whether its successful or not, but I hope so.
anyways, enough with the sentimental stuff. In the end of it all, I've learned a LOT this year, and all good things have to end eventually, right? I mean, I'm leaving town after I graduate, so I can't blame other people for not coming back and coaching, right?
So... now that its all over, what are YOU guys doing with your life? What have you learned this year? I learned that work ethic DOES need to be renewed, that team dynamic is just as important as individual scores, and all good quizzers make errors... you just have to learn from them and keep going.
Well, see ya in August for the countdown, maybe earlier if I find some tips or study methods... I'll try to update you on studying over the Summer, I've already started Hebrews... Last year I took a long break and regretted it, like< REALLY regretted it. Are you guys taking a break? Who's graduating?
QUIZZERS UNITE!!!!
Maegan
Okay, admit it, you loved Nakamun. And if you're outside of WCD, you would've. Great environment to quiz in, let me tell you! I never realised how awesome it was last year, I guess, but now I do! I can't wait to be back!
Lets get stats and freakouts out of the way here: I placed 7th this meet, 10th all year, and my team placed 7th!!! AAAAAH!! I'm so excited! Everybody did so well this meet... we had some pretty good quizzes!
Okay, so, from the beginning of the meet. I arrived, book in hand, waiting to get the whole registration thing over with, hand in my Internationals application, get my stuff in the cabin I was in and get at it. Then I lost my spot in line. Why? Cause Alannah decided to start my chain of screaming reunions with the other Great West people. :o) It was so awesome to see all of them (or you... you know who you are :o) ) again... 2 weeks seemed so slow!
So I got everything handed in and stuff, found the cabin me and Patricia were staying in (with Edmonton Chinese... so happy we were with them... they weren't awake and loud all night!) after a mix-up and went to the little meeting thingy before the meet. The picture slideshow wa awesome... although NEXT didn't really send in any pictures so every other team had a photo up there except us. We were a cool font on a black screen. Yeah. Cause we're cool.
Then quizzing started... started the meet off strong-ish... quizzing out with 1 error. It ended up being a pretty good night from there... but I must've been too tired to remember what I was doing the rest of the night. All I remember is that the next morning, Patricia and I, well rested and excited, passed notes and got ready to go to breakfast. The day after that was almost nonstop quizzing, except for the half hour breaks we got and lunch, and in the afternoon after we got knocked out of championships and decided to go take photos with the team. Most of them are pretty hillarious... I must say... but we DID get one or two quality photos.
At the end of the afternoon I participated in the qualifiers quiz!!! It was a lot of fast jumping and seemed to go on forever, with a few time-outs and time between sets of questions, and i loved every second of it! I didn't make it onto the team, but I promised myself that next year I'd get my quote numbers memorized and do even better!
We ate supper after that and, again, I don't really remember what happened after that other than the fact that Edson 1 placed 2nd in the consolation finals!!! W00T!
Then we had awards... Alannah placed 2nd in consolation... Congrats! Great job to everybody who did so well at finals this year... there was some pretty fierce competition out there and it wouldn't have been HALF as fun without it!
So who's ready for next year? Are you studying already? Or are you taking a break? Any grade 12's out there? Any future quizmasters? Coaches? Scorekeepers? Answer judges?
Hm.... I need another question... how did you feel about your finals? Were they awesomeness fun? How did you do?
Well, I'm out. I'm taking a short break before I go hardcore on John. Watch out my new quizhelper... you'll never be the same!
Have fun with your summer break everybody, unless you're going to Internationals... then its not really a break... have fun there too!
Quizzers Unite!
Maegan
Why did I type the title like a lolcat? I don't know. But it probably has something to do with the fact that I'm so excited for Nakamun! Less than 12 hours left to study... are! You! READYYYY???
Cuz I sure am!
I mean, I think I'm ready... I've studied my brains out this week! And after studying, the most important thing in quizzing is the actual quizzing. The flashcards are GREAT for preparing for quiz meets! Not to toot my own horn, but they are!
You know you're a quizzer when...
Finish that sentence!
Mine: You hear a key phrase on TV or in a conversation etc. and automatically start quoting and putting references to that section.
Well, these are my last words before Nakamun... study hard, jump fast and have so much fun you don't wanna go back home!
Maegan
So... 3 days left. How's everybody feeling? A bit nervous? Excited? Study-a-holic? Is that even a feeling? In any case... Nakamun is in 3 days and I think I speak for everybody at NEXT when I say... we're PUMPED!
I'm taking advantage of this pumped-ness and doing some research on memory skills and stuff for the very LAST minute. Smart, hey? (I know, I know... its not) BUT I got a new rookie tip and a new nerves tip... and there are studying tips still to come!
Anyways, I need to get back to studying.
Question: How do YOU know you (or your teammate) is pumped?
3 days left WCD... hope you're ready, and I'll see you then!
Maegan
I am SO excited for Finals!
And you know what? There's only 5 days left including today! Freak out much!
Its a happy excited, though, I promise... although I can't help but bring back memories from last year's Nakamun experience... To the rest of NEXT 1: I PROMISE it WON'T happen again this year...
Since Great West I've been trying to turn on my Corinthians stuff so I can listen to it in my sleep and its all been going fine so far, I think its working... but I won't post it on studying tips until I check it out with some online sources... Right now I don't know WHICH methods are working and which ones aren't since I'm pretty much using almost all of them around the same time... is that a good idea? AAAH! What are your opinions...?
Well, this is the last stretch of studying for the year, hey? Paul will definietely be missed... at least I'll miss him if nobody else does. Get ready for another gospel, time flies!
Question: Any last minute tips for Finals? What tips have worked the best for you?
Maegan
Let me explain the title first, kay? Thanks.
I am going through culture shock right now. I mean, come on, in the real world you actually have to get a non-quizzing EDUCATION!!! LOL!
Second, I didn't sleep well last night.
And third, I know this is going to be a looong blog.
So for those of you who haven't been reading my blog since the last quiz meet, I went to Great West last weekend! It was SO MUCH FUN! Lets get stats over with before I start going into all the emotional and psychological and sleep-related blogging, shall we? I placed 21st (YESSS!) with an average of 12.5 and my team placed 5th!!! So, yeah, that was really exciting.
But that wasn't particularily why it was such a fantabulous quiz meet. I mean, partially but you catch my drift. I was on a great team... me, Renae, Sarah, Carrie (if you're reading this and know I spelled it wrong please comment the actual spelling) and Kimmy, and we worked pretty well together. I mean, we all cooperated pretty well together and it was a worthwhile weekend to attend.
It was definitely a learning weekend. I mean, I've NEVER been confident enough to jump WAY too early and just throw out a random answer. Either of them! I've NEVER done ANYTHING to do with strategy... our strategy at NEXT has always been to try to jmp early and get points. I never knew there were certain amounts of types of questions in each quiz, and I never really counted or noticed how many syllables other people were jumping on. AND I have never NOT panicked at a quiz meet. Great West was a GREAT quiz meet for learning how to quiz better, and for making friends with people you absolutely hate quizzing against (cause thery're so good, right? Its not that I HATE anybody, I just hate quizzing on a different team than them.
Oh yeah, one more thing I learned at Great West: At least TRY to sleep if you know you have to wake up the next morning at 7:30. Zzzzzz....
Speaking of sleep (I know, this is getting long) I was planning on listening to the material in my sleep so I was just listening to it and drifting off and my mind started going bonkers... I mean I guess there was this character I unconsciously made up named Bob. And Bob did not know how to read or write. And I thought Bob was so smart for saying all that cool stuff, and was wondering why he was so obsessed with the resurrection of the dead... then every now and then in the hour or so I spent thinking these things I'd realise a) Who's Bob? And b) Thats 1 and 2 Corinthians. Not... uh... Bob.
Okay, I've rambled at you long enough for one night. Gotta get going on the set of flashcards for my iPod... Need those for Nakamun!
OMG Nakamuns in less than 2 weeks!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!! *Freak out*
Until probably sometime this week, comment what you've learned from Quizzing this year!
Happy studying!
Maegan
WOOHOOOOOOO! Guess what people? Awesomeness alert... I'm getting ready for Great West... which is in, not 7, not 6, not even 5 whole days but 4 sleeps including tonight until Great West! Woohoo!
And you know what? I get the ENTIRE week off of school in preparation! To do: STUDY! I'm SERIOUSLY pumped!
Goals for Great West: Quiz out. Just once... thats all I need. Maybe I'll get lucky and have a really good quiz... thats my goal. I don't really care how my personal scores turn out... I just want 1 quiz-out!
Anybody set goals for themselves for quiz meets? Its a great idea! OMG... did I put that in my nerves section? *scrambles to find an article on the page about setting goals...*
Aside from Great West, Finals are coming up WAY too soon for my liking! I mean, sure, after Great West, my quizzing will have greatly improved but its still scary to think that I have 2 practices between Great West and Nakamun. Why? Cause its FINALS! And its not a lot of time between quiz meets... and I don't know if thats a good thing or a bad thing but it WILL have an effect!
So, all smiles and studying till then, right? *note to self: stop being such a cheesy blogger.*
Well, I'm gonna go put some stuff up!
Maegan
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