The day was November 20th, 2024. I was with my good friends Patrick and Cougar doing the announcements. Then, one thing pops out of the numerous sentences of the script: The Spelling Bee is today, November 20th.
We end the announcements shortly after and I arrive at homeroom with Mr. Puhalski. I sat down discreetly knowing that the event was near.
“You got this!” one friend said.
“Bring home the gold!” said another.
Looking back, I was a bit overconfident, but I wasn’t worried. I could spell hard words like revolting, r-e-v-o-l-t-i-n-g, and synonym, s-y-n-o-n-y-m. If I won the class spelling bee with ultimate ease, I was sure to win this one.
The bell rang at 8:15 and I began my trek to the library. I was walking with my friend because we were going to the same hallway, as he was going to ELA WINS in 228, and I was going next door in 226. Then, when I stood in the doorway, I saw a line of students and at a table, Ms. VanDaly.
“What class are you in?” she asks.
I reply: “720”. I then receive a sticker that has my class on it and stick it on my shirt. I see other familiar faces, such as Elaine Fang from 707, Gabriel Nuxoll from 808, and Derek Elmoznino from 701. The teacher then assigned us to our seats in the library. I sat next to Elaine and a student from 721.
Then, in a blink of an eye, the spelling bee began.
There were 3 teachers sitting at the table; Ms. Delendick, the librarian; Ms. Carvahlo, an ELA teacher; and Mrs. Hughes, one of the assistant principals. The teachers quieted down the class and began to recite the rules.
“Here are a couple ground rules,” Ms. Delendick said. “If you spell a word right, you move onto the next round. If you don’t you get eliminated. You cannot correct a word after misspelling it. You can ask for the word to be repeated, the definition, and/or the word in a sentence.”
“Also, when someone stands up, don’t stare at them,” Ms. Hughes added. “If you laugh at a misspelling, you are disqualified. There is absolutely no laughing.” These rules seemed overly strict, but they were essential for the competition to be fair.
Round by round, more and more people got eliminated. I watched my fellow peers fail over and over until I was the last seventh grader standing.
“Alright!” Ms. Carvalho said joyfully. “You’re still in it!” I politely nod.
“Your word is protocol.” She says. The word seemed fairly easy, as I heard it frequently in my life and had a good understanding of what it meant. All I had to do was say it.
“Protocol. P-r-t-o-c-o-l. Protocol.”
“You were so close! You missed an O.” she responds, with a hint of sorrow. “The correct spelling is p-r-o-t-o-c-o-l.”
I thought I had said it, but I thought wrong. I was overconfident. My own pride led to my demise when I needed to focus on the word itself. Then, when the round was over, I walked out of the room to my second period class.
Looking back, I knew that I should have taken my time. If I had thought it through I could have gotten it. But, I’m still proud of how far I went.