History in the Making

         To say that these last five days have been an unforgettable journey is a complete understatement. It was surreal and unreal in so many ways. Buffalo Advertising started the journey to Austin early in the morning on Saturday. Most of us, didn't sleep because we were so excited. For the first time in the schools history, the NSAC team made it to the National conference among the top 19 schools in the nation for advertising. We were the smallest school there.
       When we arrived, we noticed other teams were arriving as well. We recognized some of them from their plans books and were a little bit starstruck. The team who BuffAD became close with, Alabama, or stachetag were one of the first teams we met. That day, we mingled and tried to take it all in: We were really there. We had made it. The AdAmerica conference was in full effect.

       We watched presentations all day Sunday. I remember walking out of the first presentation and saying to the team, "We're in the big shark tank now." We were in awe of some of the teams and how good they were. Unlike district, the national competition was not for the weak. Each team was strong in their ideas and their presentation. We knew we were good, but it was still intimidating. That night we had our final rehearsal before the big day. We presented at 8:50 Am Monday morning. My parents and sister and a few other parents of team members were there to support us, as well as people from District 10.
       The morning of the presentation was crazy and it seemed to go by so slow until it was our turn to present. DL, the giver of inspirational speeches, said her speech to us about being legendary and set the floor to us. Prior to competition, we had rehearsed for three weeks, got grilled on insane Q&A and maybe had a breakdown or two. Seeing the judges walking in, as well as a room full of people was incredibly scary. But, we were prepared, we were confident.
      Right before the timer asked us if we were ready, I looked at my team and said " Let's have every single person in this room walk out of here knowing who we are and what our presentation was." I could not have imagined our presentation going better. The crowd laughed and was having fun with us. The lights worked, the soccer ball move was flawless (hehe) and we, as presenters , had the most fun we have had presenting our campaign. There were no lines fumbled and it was slow like we had been told to do.
      When we finished our presentation, the first 5 rows of people stood up for a standing ovation including the judges. That's when it hit us, we literally were all almost in tears before the Q&A had started. We got asked one question by the judges and the rest was praise for our ideas and how well we put our presentation together. I looked out and our adviser was crying and we were so happy.

      The next two hours went so slow. We just wanted the results. Come lunch time, the winners were announced and BuffAd did not place top 4! You could see disappointment on our faces but we knew that we were among the best of the best. It wasn't until an hour later at the judges review did we learn we placed 5th place, only .9 pts behind the 4th place team and defending national champions. I remember running back and hugging everyone. We were so happy, we celebrated like first place. It's so amazing to think that we came in as the wildcard, barely making it and walked out beating both teams in our district and 147 other teams to rank in the top 5 in the nation. I get chills thinking about it.

     The rest of the trip was so amazing. Our team was able to network with industry leaders and the judges as well as some of the top Advertising people. We were able to hear from speakers from ESPN and the New York Times. We also go to tour two of the largest ad agencies in Austin, GSD&M and McGarrah and Jessee. I know I speak for my team as well as myself when I say that this experience has been amazing. Our team was able to bond and forge friendships  that won't end. We are so thankful for our advisers and for the opportunity to be among the best of the best. I know I can say that I am eagerly awaiting NSAC next year, for my last year of school. I'm also eager to get out into the work force and fulfill my dream of moving to NYC. I know after this last weekend, it is very possible for my dream to come true. We made history and I couldn't be more proud. "If you can dream it, you can do it." - Walt Disney.