Bolles junior Cyrus Vaghefi ’26 finished in the top 10 of the Poetry Out Loud state recitation competition, held March 15 at the University of South Florida campus in St. Petersburg, Florida. Vaghefi performed "The Light the Dead See" by Frank Stanford, “No, I wasn’t meant to love and be loved” by Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib and "Ways of Talking" by Ha Jin. 

He punched his third ticket to the statewide competition by taking home first place in the Bolles Poetry Out Loud contest held January 30. In an article published by The Bolles Bugle ahead of states, Vaghefi said he made his poem selections because they were simple to memorize yet deep in meaning.

“‘Ways of Talking’ is personal to me because it is a story of an immigrant,” he said. “My family immigrated from Iran, so I know how that experience is and thought it was really interesting to see how it was written in poetry.” 

In Florida, Poetry Out Loud is implemented in approximately 60 high schools and impacts 9,000-11,000 students each year. The winner from each school-wide competition faces off at the state level, with performances judged on physical presence, voice and articulation, interpretation, evidence of understanding, overall performance and accuracy.

Congratulations on another spectacular showing, Cyrus! #BulldogProud