Last summer, I got on a bus full of other people who were also willing to spend fifteen hours on a bus for a week in Knoxville, Tennessee for NJCL’s 2024 National Latin convention to study and explore the ancient world. I was one of only three people from my school, including my teacher, Mrs. Procaccino, to attend the convention. I was the second student ever from Thomas Edison high school to attend a convention at a national level.
Once the bus got to our destination, we all got our room assignments for the week. We would be staying in the Robinson dorm. My roommate and I unpacked and went to dinner at the dining hall. At ten, we made the long journey down to the alumni memorial building for fellowship, where we spent an hour with the other Virginian Delegates discussing what we would do tomorrow.
On Monday I registered my graphic design projects to be judged. Later that week, in the same building, I signed up for Ludi chess. Then we went to the General Assembly. I walked to Mrs. Procaccino’s car to help her carry the bags of crowns that the certamen team had made to the student center for agora to sell right after Fellowship happened to end the night.
On Tuesday, I woke up early to go to the first Ludi chess tournament. I didn't make it very far, but it was fun to compete. It was day two of Agora, and we had sold some of the crowns the first day, but sold many more that day. We were also selling pencils that looked like the roman poop sponge sticks. They were very popular.
On Wednesday, we went to the test sessions. There were four options every day. I took classical art. It was the last day of Agora, so we were trying to sell the last of the crowns so that we wouldn't have to bring them all the way back to Virginia. On Thursday, it was Silent Spirit during the General Assembly. We had practiced the night before, and we turned all of our cheers into poster messages. I got to hold up the “RED HOT” sign, my favorite cheer. The SCL officers played a parody of Hot to Go.
On Friday, we had our last General Assembly meeting, and we wore our ceremonial bed sheet togas to compete in spirit. That night, we went to the dance, and partied for hours till going to Fellowship, and then back to the Dorms to pack for the long ride back to Virginia the next day. The National Junior Classical League was an amazing experience where I got to meet many new people who also share my love for the classical world.
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