Thus ended my Latin life for seventh grade. School resumed in
August, and so did Latin. I watched as Jimmy Fraley dominated Lower
Certamen. Royalmont conquered Intermediate, and Walnut Hills claimed
the spoils of upper division certamen. Through all this, I still loved Latin,
and I rejoiced that many others shared my zeal. Aiden from St. Xavier
carried me to the finals twice (thanks, bro), where I actually did something
significant and took home a third place sticker. Some questions were
exponentially more difficult, while others were extremely easy. Between
rounds, I debated with others about which Aeneid questions belonged in
upper Level, while we agreed that some of the famous battle questions
should be rephrased and repurposed in lower division rounds. This was the
highlight of Certamen for me. Instead of the questions themselves, these
discussions highlighted the knowledge of my fellow Latin students along
with their reasoning abilities.
Finally, after seemingly forever, my second OJCL Convention
opportunity returned. I learned (again) that I knew nothing of what the
proctors were asking, and in the rare event that I did answer a question
correctly, my friends broke out in laughter. And yet, I had the time of my
life. Certamen was, and is, what
brought people together. The
close call in the finals between
Shaker Heights and Walnut Hills
only created suspense for the next
year, when them two would face
each other again.
This brings me to today. The
lessons of what certamen taught
me will stay with me for life. I can’t
wait for what the future holds for
me in Latin, which includes NJCL
at Miami University at Oxford
(literally everyone should come).
Who knows? Maybe I will end up
on a national team some day. Look
out, OJCL! Here I come!
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