Bragging Rights

Okay, people, I am taking a minute to brag on my child. Today Kelsey, who is in third grade, competed in her school-wide spelling bee. The bee consists of classroom winners, grades 3-8. Kelsey won her class bee and, after much back and forth, decided she would give it a shot.

The bee was at 1:00 in the chapel after school. Fourteen students were expected to compete, but only 11 showed up for whatever reason. The chapel was pretty empty, mainly parents and siblings of the participants. I was the only overzealous parent with a video camera, but since Joe couldn't leave work to be there, I thought he might like to see it (because, honestly, who knows if she'll ever be up there again like that?).

So the bee started and within about 20 minutes we were down to three or four students. Kelsey was hanging in there, having spelled words like "mantilla", "virtuoso" and "libretto". Finally, it was down to her and a middle school student. The girl competing against her was tall and lanky and a confident speller. I thought as they were going back and forth for what seemed like eternity that Kelsey was sure to fall to this willowy girl.

But just as I was sure the end was near, this other girl mispelled "calypso". Kelsey's face turned bright red when she missed the first A in the word. I knew she had realized the girl had spelled it wrong. Then Kelsey stood up, spelled it correctly and waited on the final word. The moderator said, "benevolent." My heart sank. Kelsey had had trouble with this word all week, going over it several times. She stood up and began spelling slowly. I was unsure if she remembered that it was an O and not an A in the middle. I was looking at her through the video camera's lens in black and white, so deep in concentration, looking so little standing there by herself. Then it was over and the moderator congratulated her on being the winner!

OH MY GOD! Kelsey is the school-wide winner! She gets to go on to the Scripps Regional Spelling Bee on March 8 at UT. At first she said she didn't want to go on and the older girl could go, but she has now decided she does. She has until morning to make up her mind, but she seems pretty set on it. So I guess we'll be spending the next 8 weeks spelling, spelling, spelling!

I can not express in any words how full my heart is today. It's not much, a little school spelling bee, but for her it was a big deal. It was a big accomplishment. She overcame her apathy for participating and buckled down, worked hard, writing words and studying each night, going back over words we had spelled a million times before just to be sure we got them right. We spelled in the car, in the bathtub, even during dinner. And because of her effort, she saw success. A life lesson that can't be bought, my friends. And that is why I am so thrilled for her today. She has learned that hard work brings reward. And her mother has been reminded once again how blessed she truly is to be here to witness it!