a titanic undertaking

i have the capabilities of becoming intense. i will admit it. there are times when it is helpful and times when it definately has cost me something. three months ago when our history teacher asked me to help a duo of sophomore girls with a dramatic presentation to enter at history day, i was a little underwhelmed. it was a history day project- a little research, a little writing, a litte memorizing. but as the days progressed, i became wrapped up in the story of the these two girls who were on the titanic. i wrote a script. i stayed after school for hours working on timing and emotion and blocking and then we went to local competition. any speech person will understand my jerk reaction was to grab the judges comment sheet before reading anything else and hide myself in a corner, frantically reading what they liked, what they didn't. superior rating. going to state. BIG problems with the script and paper. so i sat down with the girls. said that it was their choice- go to state with the requirement that we rework everything they had already done, go to state keeping everything just as it was knowing we wouldn't be competitive, or just not go at all.

they chose option number one.

so i came back to school the next monday and researched and re-wrote the script and gave them copies. i said " we have five weeks till state- there is a lot to do but it is managable" so one week went by, then two, then three.

now we are at week four.

i have two sophomore girls with a brand new script that haven't even begun fixing their process paper or their bibliography. these girls have fair animals to keep, two sports practices, jobs after school, youth group responsibilites, oh, and school work to do. so i sit them down and say , " you have to do this right or we're not doing it. this new script requires a lot more from you than the first one."
and then i look at their faces and realize what i must look like to them. an woman obsessed with a project that i am only supposed to coaching- not dictating. i take a breath, say a prayer and apologize for raining my intensity on their heads instead of encouragement.

so today we begin to memorize, block, practice our new titanic script to present at state next saturday morning. it is a titanic undertaking.