COMMON APP ESSAY Anonymous

At 6 AM, March 2nd, 2014, I woke up glimmering with hope. However, at 1 PM that fateful, unforgettable day, I came in second place in the Orange County Spelling Bee, lost my chance to compete at nationals. I breezed through almost every word. Although I spelled “perestroika,” “scherzo,” “schadenfreude,” and “realschule,” I eventually tripped over a seemingly easy word.“Chaplain," announced the judges. After hesitation, I spelled it after Charlie Chaplin, the only context I recognized this foreign-sounding word in.

"C-h-a-p-l-i-n."

The buzzer stung as I rushed to my chair, confused, distraught. Next, my opponent arrived to the podium, winning the grand-prize with "editorial." In the days after, I complained that my opponent’s teacher tutored him weekly while I couldn't afford tutors and studied alone. I made excuses that I didn't have chances to compete in elementary like other contestants. I justified that “the dictionary relates chaplains to churches. How unfair! I'm not Christian." Although runner-up earned three-hundred dollars and a trophy, I wanted more. I still sobbed profusely for failing to fulfill my childhood dream of appearing on television to make my friends and family proud. I couldn’t forgive myself because...