Tompkins High School will be attending their district Academic UIL event between March 20 and 24. Students will be competing in a wide range of events for several subjects, and they will be presented with the opportunity to place within our district. UIL represents a great chance for students to build their resumes for college and compete academically with fellow students throughout the district which overall benefits all parties involved as students get to better themselves by challenging one another.
“Having been a part of UIL Ready Writing and Current Events, I have the unique experience of being fairly immersed in the entire program, and it has been something great to be a part of. In the case of Ready Writing, the club at Tompkins is relatively small compared to other UIL events, which has allowed me to form unique bonds with my sponsor and fellow classmates,” said junior Guillermo Barbella.
The events Barbella is a part of are Ready Writing and Current Events, two of the newer UIL events Tompkins has recently added. In the case of Ready Writing, students are given a prompt, and with no prep time beforehand, expected to develop a sound and unique essay which pertains to the topic. In Current Events, as the name suggests, students challenge each other through debate over the issues of today. With the two aforementioned events in mind, one can see the diversity of topics within the UIL program and how there is niche for any and everyone who is interested in academic competitions.
“Being involved in UIL in general I believe has made me a better student. It is simply another place for me to figuratively stretch and strengthen the muscles of my brain, which I think serves to benefit me in aspects of life, not exclusively in school. Not only is it enriching to me mentally, it has become a place that I have allowed myself to advance socially as well and brought me outside of my comfort zone,” said Barbella.
UIL is a community where students can not only showcase their ability in academics, but they can also build the foundations for relationships centered around education and a love for learning. It also provides the opportunity for students to create bonds closer to students who display a real initiative to bettering their academic experiences throughout high school and beyond.
“For the Journalism events at UIL, students are expected to be able to come in and write over a wide range of topics. Events range from writing headlines, news stories, editorials and features with each presenting its own unique challenges to writers. Personally, my favorite event would have to be writing news stories, as I feel that is where my passion truly lies,” said senior Drew Van Chau.
As Van Chau mentions, UIL provides students of several different passions with events that can also appear specifically tailored for them. This diversity of competition assures that nearly anyone can find events that interest or intrigue them at these UIL events.
“Another event that I have taken is called Literature Critique, oftentimes shortened to Lit-Crit. The events typically consist of 65 question test where students are required to have extensive knowledge of literature history, Pulitzer Prize winners and knowledge over two novels that were predetermined,” said Van Chau.
