I’m a Yagger

Yagger: a person who attends the North Carolina Youth Legislator Conference and has immersed himself or herself in the understanding of government.

As of this year I am a fourth year veteran Yagger and every year I have made the trek to Raleigh and debated bills with my fellow Yaggers. Although I’m a returning senior, every year there are different memories and new people to meet.

This year I decided to take on a leadership position at the conference, to give back to the conference that I have loved so dearly. I decided to be a Committee Chair and run a committee of junior and seniors to amend bills and to help people learn Parliamentary Procedure.
As mentioned before, I’m a Yagger; I know this conference inside and out. Teaching Parliamentary Procedure was probably the easiest part of the whole conference, for it was the one part that I knew really well. Instead of being that scared freshman I once was at this conference going to leaders and asking questions, I was the one answering questions. I was the expert on the issues, people looked up to me.
It was great to be able to give back to a conference that has been a major part in my life for four years. To be able to help out even a little bit with something that has given back to me was the best feeling. Also so see friends that I only get to see once a year was awesome and to meet new friends is even better!

Reading Poetry

An antique desk lamp stands in the corner while the blinding light shines down on the poetry podium. The lights begin to dim as all attention goes to the person behind the podium who glows in a hazy caramel light.
Welcome to the first five minutes of my AP Literature and Composition class! The mood is right, the poems are good, and snaps are always appreciated. Each person is assigned a poem by Mr. Collins based on their attitude towards a certain subject or simply just a poem he reads that reminds him of said student.
“Introduction to Poetry” by Billy Collins was chosen by Mr. Collins for me to read aloud to the class. The poem, from a teacher’s point of view, explains how students need to let the poem flow through them and be more about the experience of writing a poem rather than picking it apart to analysis.
Probably the best part of the poem is the sixth stanza, which says “But all they want to do/ is tie the poem to a chair with rope/and torture a confession out of it.” This stanza is probably the reason that Mr. Collins choose this poem for me because I hate analyzing poetry. Like it says in this poem, I always feel like I am struggling to find the deep confessions in a poem.
When I start writing poetry, however, it’s like the words flow out of me and inspiration comes out of nowhere. That’s why on the AP Lit exam, instead of having students analyze poems, they should just have us write them!
– Taylor

North Carolina Theater Conference

The bright lights hit my face and suddenly I forget everything. Every line. Every stage direction. My character is who again? I’m wearing a plaid, below the knee, purple skirt that looks like it belongs in the trash bins of a What Not to Wear episode. I woke up in a panic looking around my room frantically for the judges I was sure to see in the back row. All I saw was the shimmering beads clinging to my windows and my alarm clock glowing bright red saying 2:00am.
This nightmare is just one of the few I have right before we embark on the journey of NCTC (North Carolina Theater Conference). In my theater career, I have been to three previous NCTC competitions and as a fourth year returning veteran anticipating the day of the play still makes me nervous. We are in our final weeks of preparing our play and nothing seems quite right yet. Sure, everyone has memorized their lines and most of the props have been added, but that “wow” factor still isn’t shining through yet.
Through my many years of experience, I know that this “shine” won’t come until the second our play starts at 4 o’clock on Friday, November 4th. Knowing this isn’t a comfort as it should be and I am still extremely nervous about our adventure to Goldsboro for NCTC. As this day approaches, my nerves grow more and more as my fellow actors and I spend every day from four in the afternoon to seven at night making these plays perfection.
I know our play will get the recognition we deserve at the competition next weekend. Having a role in one play, being Prop Manager in the other, and going to school every day makes for a hectic schedule that I have every competition season. Even though the hours are long, homework is always waiting, and sometimes I just want to give up being on stage or even helping out, it is always worth it when the play comes together and we all shine on stage!

Pressing the Send Button

My heart pounds as I stare at my college application online, the “send” button glares bright yellow straight at me. My curser grazes over it, making it look slightly like a bumble bee before I decide not to click submit. This is my life. My college applications had been done for over a week and I still couldn’t bring myself to press that yellow button. Every day I stared and re-checked until I had basically memorized my applications. I just couldn’t bring myself to press the button until I realized that if I never submitted my applications how was I going to get into college.
On Wednesday October 12, 2011, I finally brought myself to press the submit button and relinquishing all control of my applications to the Undergraduate Admissions offices of my perspective colleges. After all the stress of applications and writing essays it felt good to get rid of all the unneeded stress to my everyday life. As a high school senior, stress comes with the grade level and to just get rid of some of it is an absolute relief.
My hard work and all the stress of applications finally paid off when I got home from school yesterday.  I finally found a thick envelope addressed to me from the Undergraduate Admission Office of East Carolina University. My heart was pounding out of my chest, for I had only sent my application about a week ago, I opened the letter and read it. I let out the biggest scream I have ever done in my entire life. I’m in college! Someone wanted me there! That’s a great feeling to have. Now I realize that all the stress has paid off, for I’m soon to be a college girl!