For 15 years, Permian High School journalism teacher and University Interscholastic League (UIL) Academics supervisor Michael Flax has wondered when a student would break through.
Every year, every competition, the former Marine has hoped one of his pupils could upend competitors from the greater Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area and secure a spot in the state UIL Academics competition at The University of Texas at Austin.
This year, the dream was no different.
At the same time Kate Pursley, a sophomore student at Permian, was ready to amend a freshman year in which she qualified for regionals but failed to qualify for state. Competing in four different competitions at the regional meet in Frisco, Pursley missed top three placements in her first three contests, and would have to wait for the results of her final event: Headline writing.
It was around 9:30 p.m. when Pursley was called down into the lobby of the Comfort Inn Hotel, arriving from her room exhausted and in pajamas. Shedding a tear, Flax informed the tired student that she placed first overall in headline writing and was going to state. She had broken through.
UIL Academics is an academic competition that covers subjects ranging from journalism, literature, math, science and social studies among others. Pursley, who competes in journalism events, will compete in the state meet at UT-Austin on Wednesday and Thursday.
The sophomore said nerves have not been an issue leading up to the meet, but were present at regionals.
“I don’t really get nervous that much because I don’t think about it too much,” Pursley said. “It’s only as I’m sitting down and they start to hand out the prompts that I get really nervous.
“Especially at regionals, I was sitting there and headline was my last competition and I hadn’t placed in any of my other competitions so I knew it was my last chance.”
The soon-to-be state competitor said hearing the results was a complete shock and that she did not know how to feel. Her journalism teacher struggled to hold back emotions sharing the news.
“I shed a tear or two (and) I couldn’t talk for a moment,” Flax said. “I was so excited that we finally got someone that was able to do it, and not only make it but make it as first place.”
As the first student in over 15 years to make state in UIL Academics, Pursley will move into uncharted territory for Permian’s program. Sapna Yadalla, a junior at Permian and a fellow UIL Academics student who competed in mathematics at regionals, said the environment and competition at the region level is almost unbelievable.
“For some context, I’m one of the stronger math students in all of ECISD and sit number one in my class, and at this competition I might’ve gotten 35th out of like 40 kids,” Yadalla said. “For Kate to be able to make it through, coming from West Texas and not receiving as much funding as these other students and programs in the Dallas area, it’s incredible.”
Although state looms overhead, the story does not conclude in Austin. Flax said with Pursley’s junior and senior years still on the horizon, he sees things only getting better for his student who finally broke through after 15 years.
Meanwhile, Pursley will work to not just be the student who broke through once, but the student who continues to break through.
“I know that I’ve gotten this far already and that I can have faith in my own abilities,” Pursley said. “I put trust in myself and I know that if I work as hard as I can, if I do my very best on what I’m doing, then I will be able to do great things.”
