An OJCL Worth
Remembering
OJCL President Grant Bruner, Sycamore
“And forever we’ll hold to the purple and gold of the Junior Classical
League.”
It’s hard to imagine that I
attended my first OJCL
convention 5 years ago at the
Columbus Convention Center.
The memory is still fresh. I had
begged my sponsor, Mr.
Torlone for weeks to take me
along with the experienced
cohort of older high school
students. Unfortunately, I
realized just a few weeks
before that I had to present at
the University of Cincinnati
Science Fair at the same time.
In the end, I sprinted out of the
Science Fair and encouraged
my dad to break a few traffic
rules on the 1½ hour trip to
Columbus. It was well
worth the rush. Within
minutes of settling into my
room, I was whisked away
to a troupe of Sycamore
students taking photos in
front of an entirely-too-
muscular Arnold
Schwarzenegger statue and
running around a round
table in a cavernous
ballroom following a
senior holding an empty
bag of beef jerky. It was a
joyous two days that I
won't soon forget.
But, alas, here I am
approaching my last OJCL
convention as a JCLer. I don’t
think it has really set in yet
that this is one of the last
times that I will be able to
cram for tests in an
overcrowded Columbus
hotel, watch my peers and
best friends make fools of
themselves for Spirit
competitions or compete in a
high-stakes Certamen
semifinals match. I also have
to start my goodbyes to so
many good people that I have
met along the way. It's not