Safely in Cambridge
We are safely ensconced in our hotel in Cambridge, Massachusetts, helping Alicia finish putting together her visual presentation. Registration is at MIT in the morning, where she will drop off her presentation for Monday, then she's got a tour and other things in the afternoon. Judging is on Monday. Six hours for her while judges go around the room. She can get visited at any time, and when she does, she has to give a 5-minute minimum oral presentation to go along with her display (with the understanding that none of the judges will have read her paper so she needs to relay all her information), and then a Q&A of whatever the judge deems important. She is going to be exhausted on Monday night. However, there's a $1000 prize for first and $750 for second in each category (she's one of four in the music category), as well as $10,000, $5000, and $3000 prizes that encompass all of them (best overall, most original, and fan favorite as voted on by the public who view them after the judging is over, respectively). It'll all be worth it in the end. At the very least, she gets a ton of recognition, it'll boost her self-confidence, and strengthen her communication skills. Not to mention it's going to look great on her college application.