Nationals!!!!!

The SkillsUSA national competition was quite an experience. Upon arriving at the Hilton, I found that all the Georgia members stayed in one hotel. I shared a room with 3 other girls, who were all a ton of fun!! Everyone in Kansas City was excited to see the SkillsUSA kids. The convention center was in walking distance from the hotel and the city was beautiful. One of the most interesting things I got to do in Kansas City was meet people from all over the country. The convention center is HUGE, it is amazing how many companies come out and support the competitions. Anyone who ever has a chance to go out there should, it truly is incredible. When you walk into the competition room, as far as you can see there are students, the best of the best, working hard. I competed against about 35 people, and they were all talented. One girl I talked to even had a grandfather who owned a printing company. They were a great group of kids, and all very nice. The competition itself was difficult; I had to use everything I had learned not only in the past month but in my whole career in graphic arts. Some things were completely new and I had to figure them out using prior knowledge.One of the biggest things you can see at the national competition is the massive amount of industry support. At the opening ceremony Lowe’s even donated $1,000,000!!! Overall the national competition was very similar to the state competition, so I was very well prepared. Something else that came as a surprise to me was the SkillsUSA ceremony. They closely resemble a rock concert, with music, lights, and tons of energy. All in all my hard work paid off and I placed 2^nd in the nation! After checking the scores, I found out that the difference between 1^st and 2^nd place was only 7 points out of 1000, talk about a close competition. It really goes to show that every point counts. In conclusion, I had a great time, learned a lot from this experience, and would like to thank everyone once again for all of their help and support.