Oral interpretation is a class at Bowie where students compete by performing literature and communicate meaning to an audience. Sophomore Nadia Petru has already excelled in this short year winning four awards in various categories two of which she was first place. 

“We started virtually competing in august and have been working hard to get our pieces ready for tournaments, advancing with those awards early in the year was quite exciting and worth the hard work,” sophomore Nadia Petru said.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, tournaments have moved to being online through a computer. Students send in their pieces or will  perform live for judges.

“Personally, one or my favorite parts of interp was actually going to the competitions, because you would stay there all day with your friends and kids from other schools. But now it’s a lot shorter, and you don’t get to see many people. So, a lot has changed,” Petru said.

Oral interp competitions, before COVID-19, would last a whole day from eight to even 16 hours. Different groups of students from Austin area schools would come together to compete. Every competition was at a different school.

“We each got a schedule in the morning and throughout the day we would sit in that school’s cafeteria and hang out with our friends while we waited for our specific events. They were really tiring but also super fun,” Petru said. 

Away from the competition setting, in class students prep or record videos for upcoming tournaments. They also work on group projects for each type of piece they have.

“My favorite thing about this class is the people, it’s such a welcoming community and 

everyone is so nice, funny, and friendly,” sophomore Megan Sewell says.

Petru won four awards including HI (Humorous interpretation), POI (Program Oral Interpretation) and the third one was DUO (which is when two people perform but with specific rules like not being able to touch or look at eachother). She got 1st in HI twice, POI second one time and DUO she got third one time. This is Sewell’s first year in oral interpretation and she is also Petrus DUO partner. 

“Nadia has helped me become a better performer and is also always right there if I ever need

help writing an intro and she is really good at giving advice on what I can add to my piece to make it better or funnier or more competitive,” Sewell said.

Oral Interpretation teacher, Marco Bazon, has been teaching at Bowie for ten years and has been Petrus teacher since she came to Bowie.

“This is Nadia’s second year as a competitor, and I have really seen her grow as a performer. She has selected literature and topics that suit her and she enjoys and is confident in performing,” Bazon says. “She is a hard worker and makes strong choices on her literature. Her commitment and natural ability helped her rise to the top very quickly.”

Oral interpretation is a safe and friendly environment for all students to show their creativity and amazing performing skills, Petru encourages students of all ages to join.

“Oral interp has helped me by pushing me to try new things. I had no idea what the class was 

when I joined it and I’m really glad I ended up being here,” Petru said. “It’s helped me open up to more ideas, because you learn a ton about world problems and people. It’s really cool to meet new people and hear new ideas and new voices. As well as willing to try new things, I’m also now more open minded.”