To many students, missing Prom is like missing Graduation: without it, the high school experience is almost worthless. But some seniors in English teacher Harry Campion’s Creative Writing classes will be skipping the big dance and instead travel to Mackinac Island to “slam.”

“Mackinac is a lot less stressful than Prom and it definitely costs less money,” said Colin Anderson ’12, “So I really have no regrets about missing it.”

Taking place between May 18 and 20, the Michigan Speech Coaches Incorporated (MSCI) Spring Speech Tournament is a state-wide poetry slam held on Mackinac Island. The event is for poetry and debate.

 Although the debate section is slowly fading away.

“Policy debate is dying a slow and deserved death,” Campion said.

(TRANSITION)

“It’s not just a poetry slam,” said Shane Grobbel ’12. “People read all sorts of work and there’s even a dance; it’s all part of a larger literary event.”

With Prom being held on May 19, students choosing to attend the tournament have had to make a difficult choice regarding which event to attend. Because of his love for poetry, Anderson said his choice was easy.

“Prom is something for high school kids; Mackinac is for poets,” said Anderson,  “And I consider myself more of a poet than a high school kid.”

However, Anderson said he got lucky because his girlfriend is also attending the trip. His parents also supported his decision.

“My parents think it’s good that I’m doing what I want,” said Anderson, “And Prom is no more important to them than it is to me.”

After months of preparation, the students going to the tournament have begun to perfect their poems for performance. Grobbel said all students attending must perform at least three original poems, or they will face the wrath of Campion.

“You’ll probably want to have an extra story or two as well,” said Grobbel, “because you don’t want to work so hard and travel all the way up there just to have someone else perform something really similar to yours.”

On April 19, students were able to test their poems in front of an audience at the final Poetry Slam of the school year. Poems written by tournament-attendees included “Smutnik” by Victor Shaw ’12 and “Here’s to growing up” by Anderson.

While Prom may be a moment that most high school students wait three years for, Grobbel said he has no regrets about missing it. He said he believes doing what he wants ultimately trumps the tradition of prom.

“Prom’s not what it used to be, and we’re all pretty excited about Mackinac,” said Grobbel. “Although I kind of want to go to Prom, if it means missing Mackinac, I’m not going. I enjoy poetry as medium too much.”