Educators Rising state competition looked a little differently this year than it had in the

past. All competitions were on Zoom, which came with its own set of difficulties. Not

being face-to-face with the judges was nerve-wracking along with the nerves of

technical difficulties along the way. All of my worries were for nothing though. It was

smooth sailing thanks to my teachers helping me set up my camera and computer for

competition. While in the waiting room, waiting to be assigned to my breakout room with

the judges, I was sweating. It was so scary that this ginormous project, that was

basically my baby, was about to get critiqued and broken down into a rubric. All of the

judges were so kind and genuinely interested in my project. They asked awesome

questions at the end that I was able to give awesome answers to. The judges also gave

me some feedback on my project which is really helpful considering I ended up winning

first place and will be going to nationals with my project. Nationals will also be virtual, so

this was an enlightening experience on how nationals will go and I'm extremely excited

to see what it entails for me.