come closer || nh au

forty-nine

I feel way too nervous, as I check myself in the mirror by the stage. The students from Utah are currently onstage, being questioned by the jury. I didn't know I had to answer such personal questions at this competition. The same lady from yesterday hands us our microphones again. I play around on the hemm of my new blouse. It's cute but not really what I usually wear. It's white and has a good amount of cleavage but in a way that it looks modest. I paired it with a pait of black skinny jeans any some black Doc Martens, just because I felt like heels would be too much. The kids from Utah get off of the stage and we go up next. Niall has the remote for the presentation again. Today, we show pictures from our project that we haven't shown yesterday. We have some from the band rehersals and some from our parents.

"Hello, Mr Horan and Miss Tucker. What would you like to show us today?", the blonde woman behind the jury table asks.

Niall opens the first picture, showing Mere and Justin laughing at Niall doing a goofy face during a practice. He was mocking how I look when I play bass.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Today, we want to present some photographs that really mean a lot to us and show wholesome moments feom our everyday life. We know that our project might not be the one with the most impact politically but maybe we can change something emotionally for some of you", Niall begins.

I stand by the monitor, pointing at Niall's face on the picture.

"I took this picture during a band practice for Homecoming. It shows Niall and two of our dearest friends, mocking me playing my bass. I know that it seems like a pretty random picture but when Niall pulled that face, Mere and Justin had the time of their life. They cried of laughter. This photograph shows the most wholesome moment I ever experienced in my life. It's not the huge funny jokes that count and seem relevant. Even, joking around with your friends can make someone's life brighter. That morning, Mere and her boyfriend had a fight. They almost broke up, yet, such a small mocking joke could make her forget about the bad and laugh for a few minutes."

Niall changes the picture, going on with his photograph of his mother doing his sisters hair in the morning. He explains the story and lets me continue with my picture. It goes on and on until we reach our final picture, which I took and explain. But, when I'm finished, Niall doesn't quit with our ending but opens up another picture. It's one of me, woking on the project with my head in my hands, tears rolling down my face and a coffee in front of me with my laptop. Wait, I forgot this was in there. We didn't speak about putting this in the presentation. Yes, it was in the project but not this presentation.

"And for our last picture, I decided to end it with a small message. This picture shows Violet in our local café, working on our project to give to our teacher. She had a rough day and nothing was working her way. The SD-Card wasn't recognized, Photoshop cept crashing, the edited pictures would be deleted, her brother had just found out something, her mother was working too hard, her grades were dropping, no one could seemingly understand her and lastly, it was her father's death day. Although. She seems like a wreck in this picture, she got herself together and continued working because she has a passion. The passion for working hard and earning everything in the world, the passion for doing what she truly loves. I sat in that café, wondering, how she did that. How did this 5'4 girl with a passion for music and photography dig herself out of such a large hole and keep going? It is because she has the feeling of being the best person she can be. People with this personality trait usually are the best people you can surround yourself with. They don't give up. They work hard and try to earn the most of everything. That is what I call an everyday hero. If we all could just take an example from people that can get their life together, this planet wouldn't be such a shit show. Our plea is for you all in this room to take an example and not be happy with doing the bare minimum. Excell at the things you love and don't let anything bring you down. Thank you", Niall ends his small speech, making everyone in the room stand and clap for us.