VJCL Forum AESTAS MMXVII | Page 6

Interview with mr. howard chang/ NJCL editor on Nationals

Do you have anything you want to say to the JCL’ers?

Cherish the experience. All of it. The class, the language, the culture, the literature. The fact that it’s different. The fact that it’s a little weird sometimes. The friendships, the relationships you’ve made. Cherish all of it because it goes remarkably quick. As a student, you think it’ll last forever and next thing you know, you’re a senior holding back tears because it’s finally coming to an end. Then when you’re a teacher, strange things happen and you’ll find yourself being appointed to an administrative role that you didn’t anticipate which changes the arc of your career and not being involved with the organization. Cherishing it is really important, going form Horace to every single cheerful speech at National convention. It’s all the same message, but you have to think that if everyone says the same thing over and over again, whether Horace about life in general or NJCL officers about the NJCL, they must be on to something. I hope I haven’t gone to my last convention, but I don’t know how much I will be involved with the JCL moving forward. I’m obviously coming to another fork in the road in my life story and cherishing every minute of it is important. When you’re in my position, cherishing it and hoping you’ve given enough back to say goodbye is all you can really do.

Nationals is one of the things that you have to experience to know: the roar of the crowd, the thrill of Certamen, and the intensity of Ludi. When I was in eighth grade, I was scared to enter high school. The summer before my freshman year, I traveled with my closest friends down to Atlanta to the NJCL Convention at Emory University. During this week, we met a ton of the nicest people, ate burgers in the rain, and attended the delegate socials.That first year we set out to learn as much about nationals as possible, so engaging in as many activities as we could. Running from Certamen to general assemblies to ultimate frisbee was thrilling and exciting. After this week I was less scared of high school because I knew I would always have this group of people that was out there and passionate about the same thing.

As I went on in high school, I kept going back to nationals and growing support in my state. In a small state like Vermont, that can difficult. But all the great things I saw at nationals kept me inspired and I prevailed. My experiences in the JCL have formed me into the person I am today. Nationals was an incredibly life-changing experience for me, and I encourage everyone to go that has even a small interest in participating.

NJCL Editor Angela Kubicke on National Convention