The day was November 19 , 2023 . Everyone had just picked up their bags out from the cramped compartment under their bus , waiting for the sponsor to finish headcount . We stretched out , elongating backs and raising our hands over our heads . The Richmond chill had gotten the best of us - the bubble jackets we told our parents we “ definitely didn ’ t need ” were put on quickly to fend the cold . It was VJCL 2023 , and we could feel our hands trembling with excitement ( or maybe the cold ). These first few moments of getting off the bus are pretty similar for every JCLer . I personally like to call it JCL magic . It ’ s like the first minute you step off the bus , everything is familiar , but new at the same time . Walking into the building we were immediately greeted with the familiar hustle and bustle of turning in all your artwork in time . I personally forgot to frame my art because I was so wrapped up in campaigning , that while the rest of my delegation was putting their bags into the hotel , I was cutting up pieces of cardboard and trying to desperately stick them onto the back of my last-minute artwork . Yeah , that was definitely fun . I got a few sneak-peaks into the artwork my fellow JCLers submitted , and it was honestly the best batch of art I had seen in the past few years .