Pressure building,
First a month left,
Then two weeks,
Then three days.

PowerPoints aren’t approved,
Speeches aren’t memorized,
Subjects aren’t tested,
And only three days left.

Regretting fooling around,
Wishing you had worked harder,
Even your slides aren’t done,
And only two days left.

Regionals are closing in,
Your team is scurrying around,
Stress-eating like no tomorrow,
And only one day left.

Last minute memorization,
Making sure everything is organized,
Hoping there are no mistakes on your transparencies,
And only twelve hours left.

You step anxiously into St. Annie’s,
Brushing the snow out of your hair,
You see your teammates in the cafeteria,
And only one hour left.

You’re registered and walking to your room,
Knowing that you’re going first,
You see the judges walking in,
And only ten minutes left.

You take a deep breath,
As they call your name to come up,
You turn the projector on,
Only thirty seconds left.

You break the silence with you’re barley-known speech,
The moment of truth soon to come,
You try to make eye contact with everyone,
There is no time left.

You make your first mistake
And start to feel unsure,
You put your final slide up,
Time is done.

Awards are being announced,
So scared you can’t stay still,
You find out all this back-breaking work,
Was only worth a second award.

And then you start to think…
Don’t you wish there was still a month left?
Two weeks?
Three days?