Spelling Bee

Wednesday 16, 2011, I went to the Scripps Spelling Competition at my school auditorium. I was excited, but not nervous. My goal was to get top three so I could get a trophy. My first word was auburn. I didn't recognize the word, but I made a guess. A-u-b-u-r-n... I said. I was right! I was glad I didn't fail on round one. I was surprised when one third of the group got disqualified, because last year one person each round did. My next easy word was penalty. That was a breeze. The next word I didn't know, but it was easy. It was exoskeleton. Eventually, it became the championship round. It was so tense and nervous.There were two fifth graders left (including me) and an eighth and sixth grader. The eighth grader was the one who got second place right after the champion last year. Three of us got eliminated. Now it was only me and the eighth grader. She got asked succinct. The audience held their breath. She seemed very hesitant, asking many questions. I thought to myself, I know this word, how come she gets to spell it? Apparently, she didn't know the word and spelled it incorrectly. Now I had a chance to spell two words correctly to win! I walked up unsteadily. The crowd stared at me intently. "Monstrosity," declared the announcer. "M-O-N-S-T-R-O-S-I-T-Y," I said clearly. I heard the word correct mumbled from the judges. I let out a sigh. So far, succinct and monstrosity were easy, so this one shouldn't be too hard...-but I shouldn't of got my hopes too high. Again, the announcer said,"surmountable". My hands started to tremble. "Uh, can you please give me the definition?" I asked. After he told me, I picked up the pencil and started writing. "Surmountable. S-U-R-M-O-U-N-T-A-B-L-E," I said loud and clear, because that was the last word to be spelled that night. And sure enough, it was right! I ran down and politely thanked everyone who congratulated me. After walking through a whole crowd of people, I got to the judges' table. I got handed the trophy. Many people congratulated me on my way out. I felt like I was  TV star or something like that. I couldn't believe it. It was one of my best nights ever!!

This is me! Taken by our principle.