~:[CH12 - Day 77]:~ In Closing

 
~:[CH12 - Day 77]:~ In Closing

It was an early wakeup. We had to pack and load our luggage on the bus since closing was schedule later than before and it was at the UN. The good thing is that we were able to return to the General Assembly Hall, but the bad news was, we would be racing against the clock to get to the airport, as our scheduled departure kept getting changed against our favor. In hindsight, we could have had another 15-20 minutes to sleep in, as we loaded efficiently and everyone was on time, however, it's better to be safe than sorry. Despite being the first to arrive, a few schools cut in front of us since we were waiting where we were supposed to. In the end, I think it worked in our favor, as I liked being a few rows back from the podium to capture a nicer angle of the hall. After a long wait, we entered the hall and got the amazing experience of sitting in the very seats that the representatives from around the world sit. Six of our students were selected to speak at closing, which is one of the greatest honors you can earn at Nationals. One of our delegates was especially excited as she was Army and got to stand in the very spot that BTS was. All six did an exceptional job and definitely represented our school well. In the beginning of preparation, this group found many struggles as they tried to grasp the amount of work that would be required of them. I could sense their anxiousness, but as the conference went on, I could see that they realized that the work that they put in allowed them to be prepared for this moment. After winning the Award of Distinction for Research and Preparation (the highest award) the group got more and more nervous as they called the final few awards and Cerritos had yet to be called. As they got to the final award, the delegation was overjoyed as their name was finally called. When we started this process, our puzzle was missing a few pieces, however, as we went on with week after week of preparation, you could see that they began to located those missing pieces and today, they found the last piece to complete the masterpiece. Of course, even without these two awards, they would have completed it, as they represented our school the way we had hoped. As delegates, they were substantive and diplomatic, the worked well with others and worked tirelessly to ensure they did everything they could to best represent our countries of Japan and the United Arab Emirates. At the end of the day, I cannot ask anything more of them. As we quickly exited the hall. I was a little sad that I could not have our typical post-closing photo or to enjoy the moment a bit more, however, the team enjoyed the ride to the airport, proud of the work that they put in which resulted in this recognition. In closing, when we set out on building our puzzles in our own lives, we are often presented with one that is incomplete. It's easy to give up when we learn that this is the case, but we find our greatest moments when we can find a way to overcome these challenges and fill that gaps we never thought we could. This year, our group found away and because of it, we arrived home with a masterpiece that they found a way to complete.