A friend of mine oversees this program. Years ago she asked me if I would be a judge for these scripts. I agreed not knowing exactly what it would entail. I figured I'd learn soon enough, and I did. High school students write a play--something short in nature, something that can be produced on a stage--and they submit the plays to the judges for our opinions.
Because we homeschool, I don't have a lot of experience with current high school students. We do not attend events at the school. We don't frequent places they go. I suppose the only time I interact with teenagers is at church, and I hardly talk to any of them there. This assignment allows me to get into the minds (every so slightly...) of some of these students. What I experience from these stories are heartwarming and heartbreaking. They make me laugh and make me think.
It's natural, when reading stories created by teenagers, to think about the our younger years. I did that a lot while reading these stories. Some put me back into the classroom, into restaurants where we used to hang out, into conversations I had with my friends. But, some things have definitely changed.
If you read between the lines, you can tell it's a different world.
There's a lot of pain and angst in the words, but also a lot of hope. I guess because there's opposition in all things, the highs must match the lows. There's a lot of brave kids out there.
It takes a long time to critique all of them. There were over fifty this year. Some years there's more, some years there's less. The renumeration doesn't come close to the time I spend as a judge. I don't do it for the pay, but for the experience. It makes me a better writer, and hopefully, a better person.
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