Junior Davud Suvalic placed first in prose reading and second in sight reading at the Houstonfest German competition on Feb. 6 and qualified for the Texas State German Competition.

A week after Suvalic competed in the TSGC, he found out that he placed second in prose reading.

“It was very rewarding and relieving to find out that I placed second,” Suvalic said. “For this competition the piece I memorized took me three days to nail. In the end I was glad I did it.”

“This year was hard,” Suvalic said. “The competition is a very social gathering and it was really sad to do it virtually. But still I didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity to compete and represent my school.”

Suvalic has competed three years in a row.  Suvalic said he enjoyed the competition and craved the challenge.

“I enjoy pushing myself and seeing where I stand with other German students,” Suvalic said. “German is a very difficult and enticing language, I’ve always loved how it sounded.”

This year Suvalic memorized a 42-line piece for prose reading.

“It was a big goal, but I knew I could do it,” Suvalic said. “It took me five hours to memorize it, and in the end, it was all worth it.”

Each year, after qualifying for state competition, the Bellaire German students take a bus to San Marcos to compete at the Texas State German Competition. The day would be filled with German dancing, food and music. Due to COVID-19, the competition was held virtually this year.

“Last year was much more enjoyable,” Suvalic said. “We got to hang out and be around others with the same interests. Plus, last year we had a lot more students competing, this year it was just two.”

“I’m glad I was able to compete this year, but still I hope it works out next year,” Suvalic said. “It would be awesome to compete in person again and bond with all the other German students.”

Although there weren’t many students competing this year, Suvalic said he made German teacher Michael Rossow proud. 

“I was happy that all my hard work paid off,” Suvalic said. “And Mr. Rossow was too. He didn’t have many students competing and he was very happy when I told him I won. He called me his ‘helden’, which in German means hero.”