(April 1, 2009) -- The Poetry Out Loud competition (POL) heated up as 24 county winners took turns reciting their poems on the floor of the State Senate in Sacramento. On March 23, after these county winners recited their two poems, the judges finally decided that junior Ani Bezirdzhyan, along with four others, had won a spot in the top five.

Overwhelmed, Bezirdzhyan never expected to have made it into competing for the California title. Selecting her three poems was difficult, having to choose from a list given to her and making sure certain rules were followed. Bezirdzhyan and her texting buddy at the competition, poetry club advisor Maral Guarino, chose the three poems based on what fit her personality, what she felt comfortable with and how the judges would react to the poetry.

She recited "Dulce Et Decorum Est" by Wilfred Owen and "Ovation" by Carol Muske-Dukes, which brought her to recite her third and final poem, "I Felt a Funeral in my Brain," by Emily Dickinson. Bezirdzhyan found the recital by Dickinson upsetting after knowing she would be the first to recite out of the top five. "I had no clue what I had to bring to the table; I just tried to give it my all," she said.

Unfortunately, the third poem she chose didn’t pass for the judges as only the first and second place titles were announced. She regretted playing it sage for that poem but said she appreciated the support from viewers back home. Guarino texted Bezirdzhyan during the competition, letting her know how well she was doing. She watched the whole event on the POL site with students in her class, feeling as though she was sitting with Bezirdzhyan in the competition. She found no words to express her amazement after watching Bezirdzhyan. "I think she’s really born with the gift to recite poetry," Guarino said.

With the competition behind her, Bezirdzhyan decided that the whole experience has made her do some thinking about competing next year. She wasn’t sure whether entering would be best since a lot of time went into this competition, mostly due to the loads of assignments. Nonetheless Bezirdzhyan said, "I’ll make it."