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
Tomorrow! Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrooooooow there'll be suuuuuuunnn! Just thinking abooooout.... Tomorrow! Wipes away the cobwebs and the sorroooooow till theres noooooone...
Yeah. The quiz meet? Its tomorrow. Lets all break out into song. From Annie. Yeah. We're all that cool. Who's ready? Not me! Although, when am I ever ready for these things?
So... after arranging rides and everything to and from Calgary, NEXT had an epic practice today! Our last-minute stuff always goes well... even though today we were all acting unnaturaly protective of our specializations and stuff... we're trying to all get really great personal scores to get into Great West and that I guess is turning us all into total divas... LOL!
Preparation for the meet... I'm going to wake up early tomorrow morning to get my flashcarsd done and getting everything ready for the meet tonight so I have nothing to worry about tomorrow morning. Around this time every meet, I usually have my cards done. Unfortunately, this time I don't. I apologize.
Here at NEXT we have decided (well, at least kind of decided) that we are going to attempt to avoid the candy, sweets, and any form of unhealthy food that we may come across for this entire weekend in attempts to have sharper minds and healthier bodies for quizzing. Jon's theory is that the 'junk' food will slow us down and we won't quiz our best. Or, ahem, as Patricia would say, beyond our best. Hopefully this is the right move, or at least a good one that we can keep up. I guess I'll have to switch to herbal tea to keep me awake, huh?
Well, I have flashcards to do, sleep to try to get, and a bag to finish packing.
Question: What is the most important item you have at a quiz meet, other than studying materials?
So... until we meet again, QUIZZERS UNITE!!!
Maegan
So... first of all... I thought it'd just be responsible of me to say this... My Nerves page is not a cure for anxiety disorders, nor is however the advice works for you diagnostic of an anxiety disorder, however, if you are experiencing extreme anxiety that cannot be subdued, or the anxiety is unexplainable or continues even when you're not quizzing, if it is interfering with your life or if you have to sit out quizzes because it gets that bad, you may want to consider talking to your doctor about the possibility of an anxiety disorder. They won't judge you... in my experience, my doctor was impressed that I brought the issue up on my own and helped me find the help I needed. If you need advice or support in doing so, feel free to email me at [email protected].
I'm also going to copy/paste this to the Nerves section... but seriously. If you have anxiety that you suspect is a problem, even if it isn't a treatable illness, just asking your doctor for a referral to a psychologist or group therapy IS A GOOD IDEA.
Now that I'm done telling you about that, let's move on to the issue of the week.
In case you didn't notice in my last post, its the quiz meet.
I did, and I am proud of this, talk to a Kids Help Phone counsellor this morning and recieved some great advice on how to avoid getting myself worked up so I'm not freaking out as much as I usually am. Extra practice today went well, and I feel like I'm prepared for (almost) anything. Team strategy is getting worked out for NEXT 1 (we're all shooting for Great West) and we are READY! Yes, yes I did actually just say that. We're ready. Are you?
Question of the day: What is the first thing that goes through your mind when you've just quoted a loooong verse and the quizmaster says the dreaded word: "Again"?
For me, I think, "My. Life. Is. Over." For half of a second, then I realize that self-pity never helped anyone and start going over the verse again, and super slowly.
Quizzers UNITE!!!!
Maegan
Yes, an entire blog just to let everyone know that I'm done my flashcards for up until this weekend's quiz meet as of last night and they are ready for use!
Here's the link again:
http://www.flashcardmachine.com/891179/5q5v
Thanks for nobody yelling at me :o)
I'm reserving all of my freaking out energy for the next blog... you have been warned. That's why I'm not freaking out on this one :o) Quiz meet this weekend... who's ready????
Quizzers UNITE!
Maegan
The title was pretty obvious, huh? But its SO true! Everything else seems so boring... I'd rather be stuck in a quiz with only quotes (My least favorite questions) than to be sitting around at home right now. i was actually typing out all of my flash cards to my iPod when I remembered that I wanted to blog about the quiz meet. Lets start with the story, then the stats, shall we?
Okay, so this quiz meet was probably the first time I've ever called quizzing an emotional challenge. I started off on a bad foot, jumping too fast, WAY too fast, and finished the first quiz with 2 errors and 3 right. I mean, not bad, right? I thought that if I just studied a little bit more, calmed down a bit and took my time jumping, it would all be fine and dandy, right? So we get back to the church from the AMAZING billet's house and I thought we were ready to roll... until the first quiz of the day. Its my instinct to start panicking at the beginning of the quiz, no matter how much I was telling myself to stay calm and breathe... the rest of the morning went kind of well. I still got questions and stuff but I didn't really ever get back into it or used to quizzing again until the last quiz of the day. We placed 4th in the morning, so we got into championships!! *insert happiness here* In our second quiz of the afternoon Patricia saved the quiz and got us into a tie in the last 3 questions like we had 'planned' and quizzed out without error... THAT WAS AMAZING!!! Then I ruined it by getting one of the tie breaker questions wrong... which was kind of depressing... then I got the last one right just for the sake of it all! YAY!
I was really stressed after that, during that quiz my pulse had reached 210/minute and before the next quiz it was 162 so I sat for a bit of the quiz before stealing a question away from the other team even though we would lose anyways but Troy wanted 3rd person in and I was in an evil mood so I did... I tried apologizing cause they needed that question to win but they just kinda glared at me... SERIOUSLY GUYS IM HONESTLY SORRY ABOUT THAT! Troy told me to...
Anyways I got an amazing question in the last quiz of the day... "What is..." then I half got an r... real rood... my flesh is real food... I officially felt amazing! That was after I had gone an entire half hour without studying or talking about quizzing at all, which I was surrprised at...
Anyways, i was shocked to find that I placed 18th... Jon and Patricia placed 16th and 17th (team dynamic much?) and we placed 8th in championships! Hannah on NEXT 2 got 3rd place Rookie in the ENTIRE meet and top rookie in consolation... YAY HANNAH!!!!
Congratulations to all of the other teams and quizzers who did so well this weekend... without the competition quizzing wouldn't be HALF as fun! Now, excuse me while I try to recover from post-quiz meet....
One more thing, guys, my mom made an amazing scrapbooking page from last year's quizzing... so I think that it would only be kind of me to direct you to www.heritagemakers.com/4923 because my mom loved the scrapbook so much she is now running a business with them! I like the program... its cool, easy to use and really fun, so if you order one, order with that link cause then my mom gets paid for it, and all profits are going towards supporting NEXT quizzing :o)
Excuse the advertising... but I really do like the program.
Anyways, good meet... get ready for February!!
Quizzers Unite!
Maegan
Yeah... check it out, a title with no song reference!! Please excuse me while I have a random 2 minute dance party with only myself.
Anyways, in honour of the 'OH MY GOSH I ONLY HAVE ONE MORE WEEK LEFT' spirit that is probably hanging around with your quiz teams, whether its welcome or not, I have posted another study method and another Rookie tip.
Yes, Ii did say in my comment response to Patricia that I wasn't going to make another post, but this HAD to be out there, because I just remembered the tips I wanted to put onto the site and I was itching to tell you people!
And, just for the sake of it, here's another link to the flashcards for John: http://www.flashcardmachine.com/891179/5q5v
They're almost one for this meet, I swear! Bear with me people... they'll be done sooner than later, probably by later tonight okay? Okay.
I don't have a question for this blog. Go to my earlier blogs and answer my other questions... I like seeing people's comments and answers! It seriously makes my day when I get an email wrom Weebly saying 'you have a comment'! Honestly, I'm not that pathetic in real life. Wait. Am I? Hey Patricia, a little help here??? LOL!
Quizzers UNITE!
Maegan
So for those of you who aren't from NEXT or on my Facebook friends list, I am panicking right now. Why? I was in a car accident yesterday morning. The idiot was sleeping on the wheel (whether he was drunk, high, stoned, or a combination of any of the above is beyond me) and rear-ended oiur vehichle. Twice. I freaked out and went into shock. Nearly passed out, got whiplash, and the seatbelt didn't lock so my back was strained a bit. While its taking a major toll on our vehicle, the first thing I thought about while I called 911 was oh my gosh... how am I going to quiz like this? I had my book with me, and skipped Ballet to study in the Emergency Room. Between the accident and now, I've taken 3300 mg of medication for my back and neck soreness cream and not wanted to do anything... alas, I continued to teach my Ballet class this morning, and now my neck and back are killing me again. Time to raise that total to 3800, huh? Thats what I was told to do though, once every 5-6 hours, or whenever the pain starts to come back again. I got nothing for the nausea and dizziness, but I'm assuming 'brain food' will be out of the question this weekend, as it has been since yesterday.
This relates to quizzing how, you ask? Well, how in the WORLD can anyone expect me to jump like this? WHY did this happen the day before a quiz meet? So, I'm looking around for tips on how to quiz with an injury to add to the nerves page. I mean, I've quizzed with a disadvantage before (Nakamun I had a sprained ankle and a high fever, remember? Before that I'd quizzed with headaches, pulled groins, half asleep... nothing like THIS) but it was minor and I could push through it.
Sorry for the rantiness thus far, lets get to the interesting stuff that people want to read.
QUIZ MEET TODAY!!!!! OMGOMGOMGOMG!!!!
That is an understatement to how the little person in my head is freaking out. I'm not totally sure if that little person is okay... maybe I need to take her to a shrink one of these days, but yes, FREAKING OUT is my instinct! My text is all recited, lots of copywork is done, and I'm psyched! 2.5 hours away isn't all that much you know!
Anyways, tips still accepted.
Question: What do you do to get ready for a quiz meet? If I asked this before, I'm asking it again just for the sake of it! W00T!
Quizzers Unite!!!!!
Maegan
No, not the entire thing.
Well, yeah, kinda. But you know. I meant THIS particular post. I'm just guessing since the quiz meet is on Friday, which is in... holy crap... 2 SLEEPS?!?!?!?!?!?!?! (enter freak-out here)
Anyways, I've got this week off of school to do nothing but study, study, study, sleeps, and... study. So I'm taking a short break right now.
Its Wednesday. Wow. Last practice is tomorrow. I'm jumping way too fast and talking way too slow. I don't know my material enough. I NEED to study...
pre-meet syndrome. Did I write about that already?
Anyways, I'll stop while you're not sick of reading yet... or are you? LOL! Just getting pumped up!
Quizzers Unite!
Maegan
And by 'it' I mean my emotional attatchment to Quizzing. Studying etc... starting to consume me again. The spark lit the forest on fire... right?
Anyways, I'm almost done the flashcards for the first meet.
OMG the first meet! Its one practice away after today... I know... what the heck? Where'd the time go? I'm kinda confused... I wish I'd been studying more earlier in the year....
Anyways, just thought I'd post those two things. This is short, I need to keep my flashcards, copywork and sutff up to date.
Quizzers Unite!
Maegan
Okay.. ummm... I'm not sure I know how to put this... but... I'm already starting to feel the pressure for the first (and only this time around) Regional meet of the year. Like, the heat is coming, people, and Its about right to say that I'm freaking out a bit. Reality check: I need to be studying a LOT more! I've been doing better in practices but I need to be WAY more confident in what I think I know and that's only gonna happen if I start studying more. So I'll try to make this short.
Studying, quiz meets, stress? How are you feeling about all this? PLEASE COMMENT lol! April commented on my last blog :o) Thanks April!
Hmmmm... quiz meets... I'm totally re-doing my frustration plan. New year, had the whole Summer without it and now if I've changed at all it is useless. New frustration plan: ...Study? I don't know. I'll figure it out. Who wants me to post it when I get it figured out? (cricket-cricket) FINE! Gosh...
Anyways, like I said, this is short. Need to study. Quiz meet coming up. Stressed. Somebody comment. Please. You don't even have to use your real name. LOL!
Quizzers... UNITE!
Maegan
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