Hello. I'm looking over my essay, but can't say that I'm too happy with it after writing it several weeks ago, any suggestions to rework it? It doesn't seem specific enough to me, but some other concerns may pop up.
Prompt: Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what lessons did you learn?
Inspiration through Defeat
The Scripps National Spelling Bee is a beautiful demonstration of how the winner does not take all, contrary to the common adage. When I participated in 2010 bee, I was speller number 30, representing the State of Connecticut, sitting in a Washington DC Grand Hyatt hotel auditorium eagerly awaiting the announcement of the semifinalists. Only fifty high scorers out of the nearly three hundred contestants would qualify for the semifinals according to the results of three preliminary rounds of spelling: one fifty-word written test, and two oral rounds.
Three officials, gathered at a podium before the audience, began to announce the semifinalists by their numbers. I listened intently, hoping desperately to be called as number by number passed by in constant rhythm. When the last number was announced without mine, my heart sank. I knew then that I would not proceed to the semifinals. My elimination from the bee came from my own shortcomings; I had misspelled "bouleversement," "tutelage" and "remittance" on the written test, all of which I had confidently committed to memory in my preparations. Worse yet, had I been the slightest bit more careful, the outcome could have been entirely different as one more correct word would have qualified me for the semifinals. Such a realization haunted me, as the prospect of losing from my own carelessness shattered my confidence. Despite my collected composure in spelling "gnathothorax" and "prenuptial" in the vocal rounds after a solid two months of preparation, my blunder in the written exam was what eventually caused my defeat.
In the hours that followed, the continuous announcement of spellers' numbers rang through my head like an earworm. It was a constant reminder of my defeat, as if my efforts up until that point had been for naught. But a conversation with my parents in the hotel room shortly after helped to shift my perspective. They emphasized the importance of what I had done in preparation for the bee over the outcome. The tone of optimism they introduced brought a sense of satisfaction to my then disappointed state of mind.
I eventually treated the loss with everything but bitterness, as I focused on the positives that transpired from the bee. Learning and memorizing the spellings of myriads of words in the English language instilled within me an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. In spite of my defeat, I've learned to better appreciate my studies and learning in general. Moreover, the work and preparation for the bee strengthened my initiative to take on future challenges. My academic obstacles became opportunities for discovery; a literary passage in an English class soon became an outlet for personal contemplation, and mathematical challenges became truly playful endeavors. Most enlightening to me, however, were the amalgamations of borrowed Greek roots that formed infinitely long and astounding scientific terms. Everything from "pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis", a gargantuan term for a lung disease, to "otorhinolaryngology", a discipline of ear, nose and throat medicine, seemed so masterfully constructed from such a limited pool of terms, with an order to the chaos surrounding it all. Such order had sparked a keen interest in the sciences within me, pushing me to uncover what meaning lay behind each construction. Every term I encountered in the spelling bee presented a portal to a yet undiscovered realm. To this day, I am constantly inspired by wanderlust to explore those portals in an effort to satisfy my thirst for knowledge.
Ultimately, I learned to cherish the process over the outcome, growing to understand the importance of optimism in the wake of negatives. The skills and knowledge I acquired from the bee have enabled me to take on future challenges with a newfound attitude of confidence and determination; such an attitude outlasts the impact of any victory or defeat.
I personally think this is very well written. You bring up some really good points about how this failure has helped you grow as a person. My only suggestion would be to elaborate more on the big picture ideas you bring up in your closing statement, rather than focusing so much on the details of the actual event.
