“The reason I joined Academic Decathlon is because I heard friends talk about it and decided to really challenge myself,” Skye Rogers said.
He studied at home by highlighting the important things in the packets he was provided and later on re-read the highlighted parts. He practiced his speeches by recording himself and listening to it. The thing he enjoyed the most about Academic Decathlon was getting close to a great group of people he would not have otherwise connected with. The environment can be stressful, but the shared experience connects people unlike anything else.

“I really liked economics and social science because there are right or wrong answers in those subjects. I like to learn how our society functions and the causes and effects that influence change,” said Rogers.

“It was a little disappointing that Team B’s competition got canceled due to the UTLA strike… I really would have liked to see the rest of our team participate,”
Rogers said.

During the awards he didn’t expect to win any medals even though their Coach, Mr. Gillespie, reassured the team that they always win a medal. That reassured the team which gave Rogers confidence. As they called his name up for an awards he jumped out of his seat with
adrenaline. He described being announced as the highest scoring decathlete on Rancho’s Team A as an “exhilarating experience,” he felt so excited he felt short of breath.

He appreciated how committed he was along with how much pride he has representing our school. Rogers describes Mr. Gillespie as a strict coach with a great at-
titude, which Rogers found really helpful.

“When it comes to Mr.Gillespie there was no other teacher that would have coached us better,” Rogers said.

Skye will be joining next year because it is a lot of fun creating bonds with people. He also enjoys learning about the different subjects and focusing on details unlike regular school work which is usually more of a general overview.

“I wish I would have joined sooner and I’m hoping to win more than one gold medal going into senior year.”