By December, the Venomous Agendas' Math Madness run was over, again losing in the quarterfinals of Division I. For the past two months the town heard almost nothing from the school but mathletics, with a bit of sports news and one quiz bowl tournament sprinkled in. The LQBA Fall Invitational South (but the VAs almost invariably omitted the "South" when talking about it), which the A-team won, and the B-team finished sixth. Valerie is still reeling in from this crushing quarterfinal defeat and doesn't wish to talk to her father about it. So she comes over to Anna's home after the band rehearsal:
"I guess you're the only person left in whom I can confide how I feel; I can't ask Chantal or Daisy because they are knee-deep in their debate prep, I can't ask the other mathletes since I already heard from them..." Valerie starts crying in front of Anna.
"Valerie, how do you feel anyway?" Anna asks her.
"I feel like I let the whole town down! Nay, the entire state down" Valerie keeps crying.
"What do you mean, you let the entire state down?" Anna questions her band mate. "You should know by now that nowhere else in the state, and probably nowhere else in the country, do a community attach so much pride in its mathletics!"
"In mathletics, we pretty much are the state. Louisiana just isn't a mathletic hotbed! Plus I start questioning what's wrong with my dad!"
"I think you're a victim of the math team's successes. It's obvious you play well enough to be there. But as much as success at lower levels leads to harder contests, the pressure is ratcheting up here like it doesn't anywhere else! Yet you put too much pressure on yourself, and you're a freshman for crying out loud! Just stay away from mathletics for a bit"
"It's not about whether we deserved it or not, nor is it about whether I'm pulling my weight. But you're right in that this mathletics team is a pressure cooker, and my dad is not helping things! With him, I must prove that I can actually play according to certain standards"
Hopefully venting to Anna would cause my stress levels to decrease, and Anna was the one most likely to provide a different viewpoint. I can tell she doesn't face the same amount of pressure in quiz bowl as I am as a mathlete, since I know she's not playing on the big team, nor is she expected to play at the HSNCT this year, Valerie looks at the redhead violinist while having a lot to think about. And then the two get settled in doing their homework in non-math subjects.
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On Monday morning, Valerie's father, after a quick overview of the results from the Southside Shark Showdown (a debate tournament), starts the announcement as soon as the bell rings.
"Good morning everyone, after this defeat in the quarterfinals of the Math Madness, we finally have some good news: Chantal scores her first victory of the season at the Southside Shark Showdown in extemp!"
Although, in past years, Southside had 2 extemp divisions, this year, extemp ended up collapsed into one division. He then goes on to list other highlights from the tournament, such as Sadie's pair getting to the final, and, of course, the novice divisions of both LD and policy. And, surprisingly, third place in orat.
As per usual, however, the DI player is nowhere to be found since she didn't appear to take debate seriously enough to deliver any semblance of results.
He then reviews the revenues from the Math Madness, which he believes are enough to allow the debate team to attend the Isidore Newman Invitational this week without feeling any guilt about paying for it. Here it seems like he is buying supplies as requested by the various teachers, as well as buying additional materials for the library. To think the VAs narrowly missed Isidore Newman because I waited until we could safely commit the entry fees to submit the school verification form!
VOCÊ ESTÁ LENDO
Venomous Agenda Memoirs
Teen FictionGlen, an assistant principal in a rural southwest Louisiana high school, takes up the mantle of the principal of that high school when the previous principal died, alongside the school's football coach, of COVID-19. He inherited a school with its lo...
