NJCL 2024
And that's a wrap on NJCL 2024! Though our delegation this year was smaller than in previous years, we still had a great time celebrating all things Latin at the University of Tennessee. We started with a ten-hour bus ride starting at Northside and arriving just in time for dinner. From the moment we arrived on the bus, we knew this year's NJCL would be like no other. From learning about three hours into the bus ride that Joe Biden was dropping out of the 2024 presidential race to our lunch stop at a truck spot, NJCL found ways to make even a lengthy bus ride exciting. When we arrived on the University of Tennessee campus, we were immediately hit by a thick wave of humidity followed by a blast of that good old over-pumped Southern air conditioning--- just like in Atlanta last year.
A shrine (?) to the fraternities and sororities of the University of Tennessee at Knoxville located just outside the girls' dorm.
Our ride gave way to a week full of fun, friendship, and of course, lots of Latin. NJCL offers a wide plethora of competitions for any delegate to enjoy, from athletics to academics to arts. (Yes, Latin kids can play sports too.) My personal favorite competition is Sight Latin, in which competitors are given a Latin passage and have ten minutes to study it before reciting it to judges. Not to brag, but our delegation earned lots of accolades in the individual and team competitions over the course of the week. , bringing home a total of fifty top ten placements for Illinois! This broke down into thirty placements in academic testing, eleven in creative arts, six in graphic arts, two in individual sports, and one in team sports. One of my personal favorite parts of NJCL is hearing the silly names that can come out of different states creating multi-state teams in team sports. My favorite from this year was definitely "Florgiachusetts"--- a portmanteau of Florida, Georgia, and Massachusetts. Of course, it wouldn't be NJCL without Certamen. Illinois had Certamen teams at all three levels, and while none of our teams placed, we're all very proud of the hard work and study they put in to compete at the elite level of Certamen. Even though our teams didn't place, NJCL saw a momentous Certamen first: for the first time ever, a team from Pennsylvania won, placing first in advanced! On top of that, the Illinois JCL website designed by Communications Coordinator Eric Chen placed in the website contest. I couldn't be prouder of our incredible delegation for all the hard work they put in to succeed at NJCL.
Northside Spirit Aedile Zoe Newton leads the Illinois delegation at Spirit. The theme for that day was "Orange You Glad We Didn't Say?", so we decided to go with bananas as our theme, which meant our delegation really stood out against the sea of orange. It was also silent spirit, so we were semi-awkwardly dancing along to Zoe's cues. Still didn't win, unfortunately.
Even though NJCL is a Latin convention, that doesn't mean we don't have fun! One staple tradition of all Latin conventions is Spirit, in which delegations come up with chants and costumes in response to themes provided by NJCL's 2nd Vice President. Our chants featured lots of references to hotdogs and the Blues Brothers in an attempt to incorporate Chicago culture. Considering we never placed in spirit, I guess the 2VP doesn't know who the Blues Brothers are. (What else can you expect from an Ohioan?) We did, however, get first place in Roll Call for our skit featuring Dolly Parton, the most iconic person to ever grace the city of Knoxville with her presence. NJCL also featured three very fun dances and an incredible talent show called That's Entertainment. Northside's very own Charlie Duggan performed his original song, July, to a crowd of cheering delegates. (July will be on Spotify at some point soon, but in the meantime you should absolutely stream his other month-themed song, February, on Spotify.)
Like every convention, our week concluded with a "Day in Old Rome Dinner", meaning everyone at NJCL dressed in togas and walked together to dinner, where we were served some semi-high quality food to celebrate the end of our week. Unlike every convention, our delegation spent an afternoon in Dollywood before driving home, where we rode roller coasters before boarding the bus for another ten hours. On the way back home, Mr. Nifong made a brief pit stop to pick up his new Frenchie, who accompanied us all the way back to Chicago. (It's like I always say; there are some things you can only experience in Latin. Such as an eight-hour bus ride with a French bulldog.) And once we arrived back in Chicago (at midnight), our NJCL 2024 experience had come to a close. Salve, NJCL. We'll see you next year at Miami University Ohio!
Our delegation, toga-and-cowboy-hat-clad, ready for the last Spirit competition and our Day in Old Rome dinner!
-Veronica Motawi, 2024-25 NCP Latin Censor