College Admissions Essay: Six-Year In High School

I peaked in sixth grade. This was the first thing that came to mind after a devastating “sorry” from my former English teacher. Within a minute of my life, my six-year dream of competing in the national spelling bee trickled down the drain. I believed I was a failure until I came to an understanding of what I gained in the process. In second grade, I found out about the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Three years later I was allowed to compete. I won three consecutive school-wide spelling bees, placing fourth in the state of Wisconsin as a sixth grader. My eighth grade year, I was confident that I could become a four-time school champion, win my district, regional, and state bees and finally make the national competition a reality. On the day of my last school bee, everything was going well. I wore two lucky necklaces. I spelled my first word correctly. Then, the pronouncer started using words from an unfamiliar list, but I remained calm because I knew the words. It was my turn. I spelled wherewithal with two L’s. I was out. I had performed my worst finish in my last year of eligibility because I got the only word in the entire bee that I didn’t know. …show more content…
One day in French class, I realized that my studies weren’t a waste. When studying, I grasped an understanding of the textures and patterns of the languages around the world that contribute to English. This was something that I applied to my French studies without conscious effort. With my knowledge of Latin and Greek roots, I could identify a familiar English word from an unfamiliar French word. The meticulous dictionary pronunciations of French-derived English words that I mastered guided me in pronunciation of actual French words. In French class, my word-nerdiness served to my