10 May 2005
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Post-senior presentation - 8:25 p.m.
My senior presentation is over, and I'm alive to tell the tale, so here goes.
I didn't start to work on the speech part of the presentation until this morning. I decided to split it up into three parts--talk, video, talk more--to make the presentation feel shorter to me.
The original adverb trail (when, where, etc.) of my presentation was 10 mai, 3:45, room 218 (Biggs). When I arrived at the high school (around three), I went to the Whinery. Someone was in there taking a test, so I tried to go over my presentation outline, which was on one measly 3x5 notecard. I guess that's a way to keep the use of notecards minimal. The notecard looked something like this:
-introduce self
-love of languages
-lead into love of French
-TWI paper [two-way immersion]
-pastiche
-show video
-what I learned
-close
After the afternoon announcements I went upstairs to confirm my room assignment. Let's say that it was good I did. I looked outside Mrs. Biggs's room. No senior presentation chart. (Each afternoon a new chart goes up outside each classroom a presentation, and Mrs. KW keeps a master chart outside her classroom door each afternoon.) After talking to Mrs. West (I asked her about using the teacher's markers and such if I needed them--I didn't make ten different French grammar charts, and it was a good thing because I didn't need any of them), I checked the master chart. I had been moved to 224 (now home to JR Jones)--the former Bat Cave.
So after school I decided to relax in the Cave until 3:45. It was the perfect vantage point to watch out for my judges. They didn't come until exactly 3:45, so in the meantime I rearranged the room how I wanted it (moved the television and the podium so I could use the board if I needed it, that kind of thing) to ease the tension. I talked to some of the other people who were presenting today. I rearranged some more. I told Mrs. Jackson that I didn't start working on the presentation until this morning. She said that I would be fine.
While I was waiting outside the door around 3:40 (for some reason I thought this was a better policy even though I was the first person going), she said, "I'll be in there in a minute."
Then it hit me. Was she one of my judges? So I went in. Another woman showed up, and for some reason they didn't have my portfolio (I think the judges normally look at it before you present, but this obviously wasn't the case for mine.) Mrs. Jackson went to get mine from Mrs. KW, and Bat and Judge 2 talked for a few minutes. Judge 3 sneaked in during my presentation. I actually did okay considering it was a one-day writeup.
"Bon après-midi. Je m'appelle Sujin, et aujourd'hui je vous presenterai mon projet terminal," I began. (Good afternoon. My name is Sujin, and today I will present to you my senior project.) They smiled. (Well, Mrs. Jackson and Judge 2 smiled. Judge 3 wasn't there yet.) I continued.
After giving a summary of the pastiche, I popped in the video. Luckily, I had already fast-forwarded it to the part I wanted to show. (Yes, I made a too-long video.) I showed the snowman-making process and the rescue from the lake because that part, at least, doesn't contradict itself on film. Not by much, anyway. Do you see why I prefer the text?
The Q&A session was great. The judges actually talked more among themselves than to me and asked only about two real questions. (Come on--what do you ask about the art of writing pastiches?) The only real questions (as in, concerning my project) I got were "What do you plan to do in the future?" (translated as: Do you plan to keep studying French?) and "How was this a stretch?" Basically, these were questions I planned to answer in the presentation, but my time limit was up. Nice.
So it wasn't too bad. At the end Judge 2 (she and Judge 3 were teachers at the middle school, I think--probably newer ones, as we didn't know each other) told me to wish the next person luck because he would need it. I hope that's a good sign.
To Do
1. Salutatory speech
2. Wash clothes
3. Pick up portfolio
4. ... Wow, that's it. Finally.