By Guerdyna Gelin
Senior Aine Hunt is this year's winner of the national Poetry Out Loud competition, which was held in the media center on December 6, 2018. Hunt will represent White Plains in the regional competition, along with runner-up Sydney Barlow.
As a junior, Hunt took a creative writing class with Mr. Polanco and instantly fell in love with poetry, while developing a passion for spoken-word poetry in the process. Encouraged by Mr. Polanco, Hunt participated in this same competition last year and was runner-up, but fell short at the regional competition. Nevertheless, this was a learning experience that taught Hunt to better enhance her performance at competitions.
She prepares for competition by reciting poems in front of different people to become comfortable with an audience. She also likes to write the poem numerous times to catch any minor mistakes. Growing up shy, Hunt considered presentational speaking a weakness. Although it has been difficult to overcome, Aine is always up for a challenge, and this is one she has clearly conquered.