“Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them.” ― William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night

Many students may hate having to read and remember Shakespeare in their English classes, but not this junior.  Clay Schoolman recently took third place in a regional competition in St. Louis for memorizing a monologue and sonnet of William Shakespeare’s literature.

“Some think that memorizing and understanding Shakespeare is the hardest but I think that actually applying it is the hardest,” Schoolman said.  “You have to find the correct tempo and the right inflection on words.”

On Jan. 17 Schoolman passed the first round of elimination at Edwardsville High School against his peers, senior Noelle Mefford and freshman Elaine Myers.

Drama teacher, Mrs. Motley, proposed this idea to her Honors Theatre Arts 3 class as a project for the semester.  Juniors Madisyn Ruyle and Joseph Schlueter took on the task of putting the competition together.

“The hardest part was keeping in contact with the head of the regional contest and also trying to find judges,” Ruyle said.  The judges of the EHS contest were Mrs. Motley, Mrs. Banon and Mrs. Voegele. Judges based their decision on each student by their character, language, vocal and ownership.

After coming in first at EHS, Schoolman was able to advance to regionals in St. Louis on Feb. 1 along with around 30 other students from nearby schools.  The winner of that would have gone to finals which were held in New York City.

“This is not the first time that EHS members have advanced to regionals in this competition, but it is the first time anyone has placed,” Mrs. Motley said.

Although Schoolman is pretty satisfied with getting third place, he feels as though there is room for improvement like there is with anything worth working towards.  This has motivated him to strive for a higher placement.

“I’m going to try again next year and hopefully make it to finals in New York City next time,” Schoolman said.