It's not too often a person associates a clock with MC Hammer — Flavor Flav, maybe, but not Hammer.
Mountain View High School senior Jacklynn Hall did just that at an impromptu speech practice last week.
Part of the Academic Decathlon competition includes a four-minute prepared speech and a two-minute impromptu speech. For the impromptu speech, where students receive a sheet of paper listing three topics and then have one minute to select a topic and prepare a speech.
Hall, 18, was asked by some of her fellow decathlon classmates to give a speech on a clock, which for Hall meant giving a shout out to Hammer.
"For me, inevitably every time I hear somebody say the word 'time' I am irrevocably drawn to the memory of me at 4 years old looking at the TV and seeing a man in poofy pants saying, 'Stop. Hammertime,' " Hall said. "I can't help it. It drives me almost insane."
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When her two minutes were up, one of her classmates wasn't completely buying it.
"Do you really think of MC Hammer?" Kevin Cornett asked.
Hall's answer: "I do. I do. I can't help it. That really impacted me when I was 4."
Impromptu topics can be serious or lighthearted. Hall prefers to tackle the more humorous questions.
Teammate Claudio Elizalde prefers the tougher topics.
"I always pick the one that I am the most excited about," the junior said. "They end up being the more challenging ones. I like the ones that incorporate philosophy or life meaning."
At last week's practice, Elizalde selected a question asking him to agree or disagree with a Harvard economist's argument that Americans are workaholics.
Elizalde, 16, said the economist's label could have something to do with the fact that the United States is still a relatively young country.
But it's probably not the case with all Americans, he said.
"We've become comfortable with where we are at now," he said. "Even if we chose not to be driven, there's welfare to keep us alive."
— Andrea Rivera
Academic Decathlon team members
Here are the names of Northwest Side Academic Decathlon team members. Some rosters include alternates.
Canyon del Oro
Wesley Chu, Taylor Cleland, Marie Clymer, Benjamin Ferell, Tiffany Lee-Chan, Quinn Reiser, Harrison Roberts, Alee Schwarz, Dana Stockton, Dylan Ousley and Marian Salazar.
Immaculate Heart
Anne Aroz, Therese Aroz, Carlyne Cathey, Nicole Clark, Kristen Cray, Mary Fogal, Kristina Kanoza, Patricia McCoy, Erin Quigley, Josh Rogers and Kaitlyn Torgerson.
Mountain View
James Luo, Danielle Oxnam, Jacklynn Hall, Jenai Crump, Nicole Pero, Marissa Ritter, Kali Firestine, Claudio Elizalde and Manuel Vasquez.
Amphitheater
Lindsey Gifford, Abdula Al-Dabbagh, Sarah Roop-Rosales, Ashley Applebee, William Madson, Stefan Lindstrom, Jessica Santa Cruz, Marco Mireles and Marlena Ratliff.
Marana
James Sweeney, Kim Blaylock, Haley Kartchner, Esther Sanchez-Gomez, Zeb Rosemore, Olivia Hamrick, David Eastham, John Jemes and Alex Mincer.
