“Maybe even if they didn’t agree, they were still willing to go and fight for our country, and what our country as a whole believes,” she said. People can do that by acknowledging the price veterans paid, she said. In her essay, Oommen talks about the importance of recognizing veterans’ contributions more than one day a year. Oommen plans to keep entering the contest for her last two years of high school. “I’m really happy for the person who won, because they’re a senior and they really needed the scholarship,” she said. When another student’s name gets called, there’s no jealousy or envy, but excitement, Oommen said. With the awards already determined before they arrive, there’s a big sense of camaraderie between the students. “And just this constant state of anticipation - ‘I’m about to get called.'” “Once you hit the top five, you’re like, ‘Oh my gosh,'” she said, dropping her voice to a stage whisper. Those who did not make the top five are read off quickly. Students sit down onstage as the emcee counts down the winners. She found out she finished in second place at the awards banquet in Kalamazoo. “Because I had written the essay, I just put the feelings that I had been experiencing while I was writing it into my voice - so passion in the parts where I was trying to encourage people, but also sadness in the earlier parts where I’m talking about the tragedies,” she said. She recalled “a lot of failed recordings and a lot of practicing in mirrors.” They compete at the post level winners there then advance to state. In the competition, students record themselves reciting their essay. I’m involved in a lot of music stuff that requires me to stand in front of people and use my abilities. “Even today I sing at my church,” she said. He saw her talent and encouraged her to overcome her fears. As an elementary school student, Oommen already enjoyed singing, but was crippled with stage fright.Ī veteran in her church performed at the church each weekend.
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