I just came back from VICA and boy was that exciting...we (in Quiz Bowl) managed to get what we wanted: a Silver and to crush the likes of Saunders High School. But before i go and talk about the competition lets start in the beginning.

Day one
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The Bus Ride Over
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It was pretty smooth going through. I managed to get my own row (there was 27 students and 4 instructors, plus 3 10-inch(or so) TVs. I Mostly listened to my CD player, played a little "Britney's Dance Beat" and read my "World Facts" book. A little crazy around me, quite a few laughs, and the occasional cramming.

The Hote... Motel
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We stayed at a 'Super 8 Motel' there was at least one other school there (though it was said that there were 2 others). We were all on the 4th floor; the girls on the left wing the guys on the right and the teachers close to the middle (oddly enough room 411 was a room that this guy drew portraits). I shared a room with Eder (he was doing "related technical math")... room 408. Luckily he wasn't one of those wild types, he actually liked to watch Johnny Bravo (heh). Parallel to my room was all the crazyness, i heard that there was lots of perversion going on there (I mean it was like...woah) that included blindfolds and jerkables, and the occasional girl from one of the other schools in VICA on the third floor (aka Biker Dykes).

Opening Ceremonies
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So we got changed into VICA uniform and went to eat at the Ramada Inn (some VICA-sponsored idea). The food was bad: Odd Potatoes, tasteless chicken, eh salad, rost beef...etc. {funny note: whe we were leaving, some of us followed Eder and Jessica who were following other VICA members...to their rooms! We turned around & blamed it on Jessica because she was the president} (we then went to have some down time) we then got to the Opening Ceremonies where they did an opening ceremony. The current president had "baa"-ed like a lamb when she spoke; then she had to read a paper and get this, she still stoped and then had awkward silence (she once went "I wish you aaa(all+baa=aaa) ....................................... l-luck."). Hmmm i wonder if she was nervous. Then they unleashed the winner of some pin award and... it looked like cr-ap! It was 2 green mountains, a green pine tree, some snow, and blue sky...but it looked like a 5 year old drew it on 'MS Paint'; shockingly enough some teen had accepted the award! After an overly long-winded beginning where we would all try to hype "R-H-S" or when teaming up with Saunders "Y-O" (Yonkers), we had to take our VICA tests (see below on where everyone went). It was pretty easy...especially when you get to copy off your partners (thank you soooooo much Ric!) We got to leave around 11:15 to finally get sleep. Eder set the alarm clock to 5:40AM (we had breakfast at 6:45). I was asleep around 1.

Day two
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Breakfast+Competition time
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Hey wait a second...didn't i see those potatoes last night? Rehashed into...hash browns. The eggs (i was told) were tasteless, and the bacon looked like oily cardboard. We took a break at hotel for hour or so. Around 9:15-ish we were off. We sent Tashida (Criminal Justice), Gebu (First Aid-CPR), Vilma (Prepared Speech), Mike VB (Extemporaneous Speaking), Demetri (i forget, but he was an assistant anywho), Vicki(Photography) and Amanda/Giselle (TV Production) to the Convention Center. Next to the Sheraton University Hotel was Quiz Bowl: Joe Yp. (<-he has a cool last name if i can say so myself), Riccardo, Pam(ela...she was a little angry that her name tag said just "Pam"), Mary (special)K., and I... Opening & Closing Ceramonies (Joe R., Bruce, James, Jess D., Chris, Randy, and i believe DeSean), Eder (see above), and Shanice (Job Interview) [Note: Along with us was Major, and Mr. Sileo]. Shawn (Action Skills), Marlane (Job Demo B), and Jessica (M. but i will just call her Jessica to differenciate her with Jess. D.) w/ Denise(Job Demo A) went to "The Hotel Syracuse". We waited around a little.

Quiz Bowl
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We got in, and the judge people said that there was a tie breaker to do. They checked our uniform (everything was all good). We chose a team number, but first we chose a captain, Joe. Joe picked the card "Team 12". Saunders picked up 9. According to last years spiltting of the 16 teams there, the odds and evens would be broken up (i.e. Teams 1,3,5,7,9,11,13, and 15 in round one (A). Teams 2,4,6,8,10,12,14,16 in round one (B).) Joe and Ric were happy we didn't have to take on Saunders, or so they thought. They decided that teams 1-8 go, then teams 9-16 go, and they grab the top 8 overall teams. So we had to wait outside. We bumped into Jess outside and she told us that they went already (they were "Red 2") and the 6 guys were flirting downsatairs, so we played a little cards (endless game of Rummy, a little bit of BS). It was time, Jess (and Major) wished good luck.

Okay...Quiz Bowl: Round one (B)
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We decided to sit (Left to Right) Pam, Me,Joe,Ric,Mary. Mr. Sileo sat in the crowd and took tabs. The questions were pretty easy. I got so angry at myself because i got the teams only question wrong (where i mistook Record and Album grr...but it was okay). I was also shocked when i spelled all the words right, but in safety didn't buzz in. Saunders (Team 9) struggled through it. Team 15 out of nowhere became our competition. One question i answered correctly was: What name is Evan Mariott better known as? (A: Joe Millionare)...the other was an Avril question. We crushed our competition Saunders (our score was 15, team 15 had 12 (ironic eh?) and 9 only had 3 points. We waited and had a "box lunch" (sandwitch, apple, 2 cookies, water, potato chips) and they then posted the top 8 teams: 1,4,5,6,7,9(!!),12(yay),15.

Quiz Bowl: Round 2
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Countless mistakes here and there led to an unsteady beginning. Blanking Out sucks. But i thought it was funny that there was one question that asked: (paraphrasing)
Spell the word that is a "q" word that means mucky, swampy, dirt where you would sink in if you put a limb in?
Team $: Quicksand? Q-U-I-C-K-S-A-N-D?
Team @: Quicksand? Q-U-I-K-S-A-N-D?
Team *: Quicksand? Q-U-I-C-K-S-A-N-D?
Saunders: Quagmire? Q-U-A-G-M-I-R-E?
judge: correct.

Then at one point there was silence and all you hear is a girl screaming down the hallways, it turns out that it was Jess! She was so happy that OC got a callback. Anywho the second round was tough, we knew we placed, but we didn't know if it was either 2nd or 3rd. Mr. Sileo claimed we were third, Saunders' coach claimed we were 2nd. We waited at the halls because OC didn't finish their callback. Eder was done (two hour long math test? I woulda passed out), and Shanice didn't get a callback (but she took it "gracefully" <- not my words). The piano is a good person magnet, the groups of people were all like, "awww". It was cool.

Nothing important
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We got some more downtime-like a good 3 hours. I decided to to hang with some people in the halls (we were waiting for Jessica, Denise, and Mike VB, [duh how could I wait for myself? Thats like calling my own cell phone]). Boring talk began, I wasn't really listening. They mentioned the Biker Dykes again, how much they were hoochies. Two of the guys had fallen asleep in the girls' rooms because it was noisy around the guys side. (Somehow though, Eder managed to fall asleep.) At the right time we got changed into our "party" clothes (with VICA ID card-thingies clipped on) and went to dinner (now: pasta, bad chicken, uncooked meatball/sausage stuff, hard bread). Mike, Denise, and Jessica finally show up. While Vilma was spreading butter on her bread, she spread the butter and found a hair in it. She freaked out, throwing the knife and the buttered bread on the table, lamenting that she couldn't eat anymore. We laughed.

Party
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It was eh, just imagine this: too many people dancing on the floor, obessive grinders, the occasional breakdancer, and the one guy with the glowsticks on strings twirling them. {funny note: Major, Mrs. R, and (our favorite) Mr. Sileo were getting plastered in the other room} Same songs: Sean Paul, both old and new Lil' Kim, Old Ice Cube, Latin music and...the cha cha slide which finally proved that many people at VICA are stupid and cannot tell the difference between left and right, reversing a move, and how to "Charley Brown". Mr. Moore (the most best-est principal out there) arrived and got the people revved up. Before the party ended, we managed to dedicate "Baby Got Back" to everyone in Yonkers! Yeah!

Post-party
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hmm...Eder and I went to sleep, but I know that the other guys in the rooms around us were doing something (anything). I don't know if it was sneaking girls around, or screaming at the top of their lungs, but Chris and Gebu both had barely any voice the next day.

Day 3
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Morning
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Nothing too exciting, (see breakfast of yesterday). Mary was still a little pissed at herself for not doing better than she did in Quiz Bowl. I told her not to be so down on herself. We all hoped for 2nd and not just third. As breakfast ended, we had to get the bags all packed up. Major's idea was that we do a staircase chain, where we would all pass the bags down, instead after some creativity we shoved all the bags in the one elevator (and me with them) down to the first floor as the rest of the gang ran down the stairs and grabbed the bags as the door opened. We drove to the ...I believe it was the...uhh same place as the Opening Ceramony. Soon after boring hello's and introducing the new president and stuff, the awards were given out.

Awards
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For some unknown reason they went from "C" (Criminal Justice) to "C" (Cosmetology-Senior). Slowly Roosevelt gained some momentum. For everyone that one I was crying...happy that everyone was doing good. Then it was our turn...and we managed to get second! We all went crazy and Mary and I went up first, I let Capt. Joe get the trophy, we each got a silver medal. Everyone hugged (especially Pam and I, I had told her back in October or so that I had a dream that we were on stage hugging and crying, and it sorta came true!). We took the picture. I cried a little bit more as I got to my seat. (Thats what happens when you experience things so relieving and so gleeful that you didn't expect.) Joe being smart had tissues, Thanks again.

Results
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Job Demonstration A - Jessica: 1st place
Opening and Closing Ceramony - Joey R., Chris, Jess, Bruce, James, ...what's his name?...DeSean?: 3rd Place
Prepared Speech - Vilma: 1st place
Quiz Bowl - Joe Yp. , Pam, Mary, Riccardo, Me - 2nd Place
Action Skill - Shawn: 2nd place

Drive home
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Nothing special. Just like to note, Riccardo was trying to be all flirty with Denise, Chris was wierd, Stuffed toys are wierd, and Sleep was popular.


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Last thought: If your name is Jason shouldn't your nickname be "Jay" not "Jayce"?