Freshman Jocelyn Tedrow practices her poetry piece at the Holliday invitational UIL meet. Photo by Carol Cox.
Students prepare for district UIL by practicing and going over information their coaches give them.
Freshman Jetzyre Miranda said that she practices by doing what her coach tells her do.
“She sends out a list of words that we need to study,” Miranda said. “We practice by going on a website and it can test us on everything we need to know.”
Junior Ty Cantrell said he practices by going over information.
“Me and my friends go over every detail and study thoroughly,” Cantrell said. “I usually practice an hour after school.”
Freshman Jocelyn Tedrow said she spreads her practice time evenly.
“I try to practice whenever I’m free especially in my down time at school,” Tedrow said. “I also like to use PrimeTime as a period to get practice in.”
Science Coach LeeAnne Warren said she has to find time to practice with her students.
“Balancing my time with my students is hard because my PrimeTime is usually used as a tutorial time,” Warren said, “so we have to find our own time to practice.”
Senior Brynlee Skelton said balancing school life with UIL events can be difficult.”
“It’s definitely hard,” Skelton said, “but I just make sure to keep them separate and focus on one thing at a time.”
Junior Isaac Dieguez said that he has to stabilize all of the activities on his schedule.
“I have a lot on my plate when it comes to balancing,” Dieguez said. “I try to manage my time with sports, UIL and school by giving each topic its own individual timing.”
Freshman Madelyn Tedrow said being in UIL is worth the time.
“I set time aside for each thing one at time,” Tedrow said. “Sometimes it’s hard because my schedule gets full but it’s worth the process.”
Skelton said studying can always help when it comes to UIL.
“I’ve been looking over the samples my coach gives me,” Skelton said. “UIL can be difficult at times but I try to study as much as I can.”
Sophomore Jake Strenski said everyday life helps him with UIL events.
“I look at the world around me to get references for my writing,” Strenski said. “You never know where new ideas can come from.”
Cantrell said spending time practicing can really be helpful.
“I practice a lot on my free time,” Cantrell said. “I usually go over the information given to me and read over every detail.”
Sophomore Sam Gilmore said his expectation for UIL is to do good.
“I hopefully expect to not get last place,” Gilmore said. “I try my hardest in events so I hope to get more than half of the test correct.”
Junior Estefani Zea Monroy said she dedicates her time to her UIL events by practicing.
“My goals is to advance to State in at least one event in journalism,” Zea Monroy said. “I work on practice quizzes and lessons for my event so that will help me advance.”
