Day 1: Anticipation
Feb 15, 2014 17:41:02 GMT
Post by poru on Feb 15, 2014 17:41:02 GMT
The tiles were blue and white in a small checkered pattern. Paul's eyes traced lines around the squares, a habit born many years ago. It had been a while since he had last competed in any sort of event like this. Middle school, more than half a decade ago, was probably the last time when he was in a locker room. Admittedly then, he played basketball so it was much louder and more social with ten guys in the locker room.
Since then, he had gone through preparations like this in different environments. Speech competitions had a similar effect on him. Before each debate, he would go through a similar routine. As he would read through each of his pages, the music would play softly in the background. Never so loudly that he couldn't hear if a person walked into the room, but he could still hear every note of every instrument. His foot would tap on the floor in time with the music and he would silently mouth the words of the song.
Closing his eyes, he lied back along the bench he was sitting on. He lifted his arms above his head, intertwining his fingers as he stretched his arms. He let them fall back above his head onto the wood bench. It felt cool against his skin, and idly the fingers moved over the slats, just doing something to occupy his mind.
Keeping his mind blank was the hardest thing to do before a competition. Ever since he was a young kid, his coaches always told him he thought too much during games. It didn't matter whether it was soccer or baseball or basketball. His mind got in the way of doing what his body could normally do. In basketball that meant taking an extra half a second to decide to shoot the ball, letting a defender get in front of him instead of having a wide open shot.
Even in debate during high school, thinking too much could have an adverse effect on his performance. Too much thought invited uncertainty, and uncertainty carried through to the speech delivering. Opening his eyes, he slowly sat up, music still playing in his ears. His foot kept tapping as he breathed in and out. He finally stood up, stretching the length of his body. Blood rushed to his head, dying his vision purple. Taking another deep breath, he tried to calm his nerves again. Nodding to himself, he walked forward toward the doors, towards a competition once again.
Since then, he had gone through preparations like this in different environments. Speech competitions had a similar effect on him. Before each debate, he would go through a similar routine. As he would read through each of his pages, the music would play softly in the background. Never so loudly that he couldn't hear if a person walked into the room, but he could still hear every note of every instrument. His foot would tap on the floor in time with the music and he would silently mouth the words of the song.
Closing his eyes, he lied back along the bench he was sitting on. He lifted his arms above his head, intertwining his fingers as he stretched his arms. He let them fall back above his head onto the wood bench. It felt cool against his skin, and idly the fingers moved over the slats, just doing something to occupy his mind.
Keeping his mind blank was the hardest thing to do before a competition. Ever since he was a young kid, his coaches always told him he thought too much during games. It didn't matter whether it was soccer or baseball or basketball. His mind got in the way of doing what his body could normally do. In basketball that meant taking an extra half a second to decide to shoot the ball, letting a defender get in front of him instead of having a wide open shot.
Even in debate during high school, thinking too much could have an adverse effect on his performance. Too much thought invited uncertainty, and uncertainty carried through to the speech delivering. Opening his eyes, he slowly sat up, music still playing in his ears. His foot kept tapping as he breathed in and out. He finally stood up, stretching the length of his body. Blood rushed to his head, dying his vision purple. Taking another deep breath, he tried to calm his nerves again. Nodding to himself, he walked forward toward the doors, towards a competition once again.