On the Other Side

A bit of a divergence from my usual topics:

I judged interviews at the Academic Decathlon national competition today. I've proctored and volunteered at regional and state competitions before, and I always find it a bit odd to be on the other side of things. Even though I was completely exhausted and the training session was rather long and exasperating, the actual interviewing experience was fun. I got to talk to people from tiny division III schools. As one would expect, there was quite the range of talent: some really impressive (the ones you wish you could talk to for way more than 7 mins), others painful (the ones you want to shove out the door right around the time they say their name and shake your hand). Nice working with ambitious teens who all seem rather mentally stable to mix things up a bit!

These things always make me so nostalgic, though. As many drawbacks as high school had, there are parts of me that wish I could have just stuck around to be a decathlete forever. Luckily DemiDec season will soon be upon me. Writing tests/quizzes for SuperQuiz this year. The topic: evolutionary biology. Very excited! After all, when I was 12, Charles Darwin was my hero (I really said this in an interview...). And Alpacas always bring such joy into my life. I like to believe that if I can't cut it in the world of Psychology, there will always be room for me in Decathlon and DemiDec as a professional geek.