The year flashed by in a flurry of firsts. My first SCRAM, my first CARCER certamen competition where we scored #1 in all of California. My first heartbreak when Cerberus died in Cambridge Latin Course. My first State Convention, where I realized that there were thousands of other students who loved the classics. That State Convention was filled with moments that move me to this day. I remember at least a dozen UHS students crammed in the audience of Novice Certamen Finals and I remember their raucous cheers when the score check announced that we had won. I remember hearing my name called at the Awards Ceremony: “Overall Academics Latin I: Sofia Abolfathi!” and hugging my friend Annabelle tight.
I knew I couldn’t wait until SCRAM. I logged onto the CAJCL website, and thinking, Wait......There’s a national convention?
When I opened my email and saw that I had received the scholarship to go to National Convention, I immediately called my mom to reserve a flight.
National Convention was at Indiana University. It was five days of sleep deprivation, yet my new friends and I were bright and alert and jittery from all of the excitement coursing through our veins. On the final day, we exchanged our tearful goodbyes, and created a group chat that we still text on today.
The corny jokes and stale memes of the group chat kept me going during through the worst that sophomore year had to offer. Nearly all of my dear friends from Nationals attended school 400 miles away at Miramonte.
I counted down the days to State Convention, when we would be reunited, albeit for a short time. State Convention, when it arrived, was as unbelievably perfect and fleeting as a dream. Already missing my Miramonte friends, I decided to create a meme account as a means of staying in touch with them. The account grew unbelievably fast, gaining a following of hundreds of JCLers.
At Nationals that summer, I made even more friends. At lunch, I noticed a quiet, small middle schooler sitting all by herself. I called her over to sit at our table, and she came out of her shell when my friend started complaining about the muggy Alabama heat: “HA! You obviously haven’t lived in Florida.” We exchanged Instagrams, and when convention ended, we continued to send each other memes. Sometimes I opened up about stuff going on in my life. Sometimes I gave her advice on dealing with eighth grade.
Nationals this past summer could be summed up by one of the spirit competition themes: “Make old friends, and keep the old. One is purple and the other gold.” I spent hot summer afternoons playing cards and cracking jokes with the Ream brothers, Colton, Nolan, and Maxine, and ate lunches with my California friends. Alexisse and I laughed at pictures of her sister’s dog running on a little treadmill, and we played cards with our Virginia buddies. During the nights, Maxine and I sold kazoos while Rudy reenacted vines for a quarter.
Today, I am a state officer. In the future, perhaps I will teach Latin. Whatever tomorrow holds, the late-night Skype calls and the anticipation for the next National Convention will continue to hold me fast to the Junior Classical League.
Sofia Abolfathi is an enthusiastic member of the JCL. You can find her writing, baking, or telling painfully bad jokes in her hometown of Irvine, California. She's the editor of this magazine so she doesn't find a picture for her bio necessary .
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