NITOC This Year

My Facebook feed is crowded today.

I hadn't been on in a few days, mostly because my brother was making last minute rewrites on his OO for NITOC so I couldn't get on. But today I checked my Facebook and scrolled through the feed for a few minutes. And I swear, almost every other post was about NITOC or being in California for NITOC. I would be thrilled to read all these updates about arriving in Cali, being at the beach, and driving through the various states between Texas and CA. I would be thrilled but for one thing: I'm not going.

I qualified for nationals. I received my invitations for duo and TP.  But I'm not going, because my partners aren't going. (Kaleb, Emily: I'm not mad or upset with you guys. You're awesome.) I almost qualified in both DI and OO. Like, seriously. I was one/two spots away from getting another check in both events. So because of those spots, I'm not going to California.

Honestly, I've been looking forward to NITOC since last year's NITOC ended. Getting to spend a week with some of my best friends, debating, speaking, going to the beach. I was excited. And all this year, I've been looking forward to it. I was qualified in two events and I was going to California. I was going to spend the whole week with my friends.

But I'm not going. I'll be here, watching Disney movies and Once Upon a Time and eating ice-cream out of my impromptu trophy. (I would eat it out of my DI trophy, but it's a plaque and that would get messy.)

The worst part is feeling like I was just one place away from going. One rank, and I would be there. Truthfully, I'm disappointed. I would rather go to NITOC, and be in California with my friends. But that's what trust is, right? Believing that even when things don't seem right, God is working for good?

This isn't the first time something like this has happened to me. Last June, I got sick at MPACT and had to go home before I could actually do anything. So I should be used to it, right? (Hahaha NO.)

So I'll sit here and eat Nilla Wafers and cry over Flynn Rider. And hope some good will come out of this. (Besides ice-cream and Frozen.)

So don't stop posting your NITOC updates. I want to see how my friends are doing, how nats are going, and how nice the beach is. Just fill me in on all the inside jokes, okay?

Vote affirmative. It'll make me feel better about not going.