Personal Narrative Essay: The Odyssey
“And, now…it is time to announce the winners for Problem 3, ‘Pandora’s Box,’” said the Odyssey of the Mind World Finals master of ceremonies in his most resonant voice. He was about to name the top six high school teams in the world!
My team sat in utter suspense, hoping our names would be called. We had worked harder this year on our problem solution than ever before. We grasped each other's' hands and sat, feeling full of both excitement and anxiety and waited.
Finally, the announcer spoke again: “In sixth place, from Georgia, Thomasville Scholars Academy, Team A!”
Applause filled the crowded coliseum, and we stood in shock with a pride that we had never experienced in all of our years as Odyssey of the Mind competitors, for we had placed …show more content…
Our smiles were erased from our faces. We had placed below our hometown rivals. We were very sore losers, and their beating us stung. We all sat in confusion, trying to figure out how in the world they could have beaten us. It seems very juvenile now looking back on it, but getting second that day created a terrible feeling in all of us. It dulled and dampened the excitement of getting to go to World Finals. In our minds, we had failed. On the way home we analyzed our scores in specific categories and found where we could make the most improvement.
We changed everything we could in two months and went to World Finals with a more serious and competitive mindset than ever before. We were driven by the feeling that we had fallen short at State Finals, which ultimately allowed us to place sixth in the entire world. We faced teams from countries all over the world; ironically, the team we were most concerned about was the one from our own home town, who was not as successful at World Finals. Although coming in behind a rival team may not seem like failure to some, it provided me with a very real life lesson; I learned that when you are beaten, you have two options: give up or push yourself
My team sat in utter suspense, hoping our names would be called. We had worked harder this year on our problem solution than ever before. We grasped each other's' hands and sat, feeling full of both excitement and anxiety and waited.
Finally, the announcer spoke again: “In sixth place, from Georgia, Thomasville Scholars Academy, Team A!”
Applause filled the crowded coliseum, and we stood in shock with a pride that we had never experienced in all of our years as Odyssey of the Mind competitors, for we had placed …show more content…
Our smiles were erased from our faces. We had placed below our hometown rivals. We were very sore losers, and their beating us stung. We all sat in confusion, trying to figure out how in the world they could have beaten us. It seems very juvenile now looking back on it, but getting second that day created a terrible feeling in all of us. It dulled and dampened the excitement of getting to go to World Finals. In our minds, we had failed. On the way home we analyzed our scores in specific categories and found where we could make the most improvement.
We changed everything we could in two months and went to World Finals with a more serious and competitive mindset than ever before. We were driven by the feeling that we had fallen short at State Finals, which ultimately allowed us to place sixth in the entire world. We faced teams from countries all over the world; ironically, the team we were most concerned about was the one from our own home town, who was not as successful at World Finals. Although coming in behind a rival team may not seem like failure to some, it provided me with a very real life lesson; I learned that when you are beaten, you have two options: give up or push yourself