The Virginia Junior Classical League (VJCL) Latin convention in Richmond, Va. was a subject of anticipation to the members of Latin class and club who had planned to attend prior to the event.
Latin instructor Patrick Bradley said, “The Latin convention is like a Latin jamboree. It’s a gathering of somewhere around 1700 Latin students from all around the state of Va. who gather to do a bunch of activities having to do with studying the ancient world and Latin in particular.”
Activities available to students at the convention include traditional paper and pencil testing competitions on topics including grammar, derivatives, and Roman life, as well as performance competitions in which students give speeches in Latin or English. Students can also compete in visual arts competitions to which they can can submit jewelry, pottery, and other such works. Additionally, there are different Latin dances and games, culminating the end of the first day with a Latin banquet at which all the students are required to wear togas.
Attendance of the Latin convention is in fact the continuation of a long dead tradition for the RCHS Latin sector. According to Bradley, prior to his becoming a Latin teacher, RCHS had regularly attended the convention. However, he had never been able to quite figure out the logistics of actually getting the club to the convention until last year, when he received some encouragement from students in the class of that time who had conversed with students from other schools who regularly attended.
Sophomore Jack Harrison is excited to attend his first Latin convention and expressed his hopes and expectations for the event.
“I expect it to be just a large gathering of people who love Latin, and it’ll be fun,” said Harrison. “I decided to go because I’m in Latin, first of all, and it just seems like a fun thing to do.”
Harrison was not disappointed; after the convention he said that the convention exceeded his expectations.
“Basically it was just like, tons of people doing Latin, it was just amazing; we got to hang out, wear togas for dinner, so that was fun,” said Harrison. “I was thinking it’d be a bit smaller, but the sheer amount of people just completely amazed me. It was just so fun.”
Returning seniors Abby Hamilton and Charlie Mayock-Bradley agreed that prior experience benefitted in further enriching their convention experiences.
“I actually enjoyed it more this year, I feel like we kind of knew what to expect going in, so we knew how to take advantage of it,” said Mayock-Bradley.
Hamilton seconded this notion, saying,
“I think I enjoyed this year’s more, because I knew what events to do that would make it more fun, and I knew what not to do and what to try out to make my experience better.”
Despite assertions of the Latin convention being a something of an acquired taste, the attendees were united in their recommendation of attendance to future Latin club members.
“I wouldn’t recommend it to others if, they’re not taking Latin,” Harrison said. “But if you are taking Latin, then sure, go, just to try out something different, something fun.”
“I mean, wearing a toga while you eat lasagna isn’t necessarily super fun,” agreed Hamilton, “ but it’s an experience for sure, and it’s worth it if you’re into Latin—like, I wouldn’t recommend it unless you really enjoy Latin—which I do.”