Success; what a big word with such a big impact on my life. It even sounds fancy. Success. It is the only word I connect to my best experiences. Of course, I inherited this trait from my very Asian mother, who expects me to do my best in everything that I do.

Naturally, my best academic experience was way back in fourth grade when I made it into a Spelling Bee in which different towns from my county competed for a spot in the regionals, that would be on TV. Now, a student couldn't just apply or register to get in. Everyone took a spelling test in school, and the kids who aced that test had to take another test, then the kids who performed well on that test were selected. There were seven spots a child could be representing his school, and the order went like this: First-Fourth Representatives, and First-Third Alternatives. This meant that if a student were to be first representative, was the best at spelling at his school, but if someone was third alternative, you were the worst speller in that little spelling clique from your school. (An alternative was only there to replace a representative who was sick.) But what the exciting news was that I was the second representative!

One month prior to the Spelling Bee, I had been studying and reading dictionaries in the hope of learning more words. I had received a packet with some spelling bee words, and I studied it 24/7, until the day of the spelling bee finally arrived.

The Bee was in a school's auditorium. When I arrived at the school, I quickly analyzed the students. There were tons of fourth grade competitors, but there were also a handful of fifth graders! How unfair! As I was thinking about how unfair life was, all the students were asked to come up to the stage. Once up, everyone on the stage was then assigned a number. I was number 48. All of the students were then asked to take a seat so that a practice drill would begin. (The practice drill: to spell your name at the microphone) Everyone mumbled some letters on the microphone, and sat back down. Then the real bee began.

The person giving you the words was this old hag with a barely audible voice. The first round was easy with the easiest words, like grape, coming up every once in a while. The first speller got out, then another student, then another. I decided that killing time while waiting for my turn was not the best option, so I thought about my future. Man, if I get first, then I might be able to appear on TV and wave to my family!! Everyone will be so proud of me! But I just wish that I could wi-



"Will our 48th contestant please come up to the stage?"



I nervously walked to the microphone, and patiently waited for my word. Hopefully it would be something easy, because all first round words are easy; righ-



"Your word is apparel."



APPAREL???? WAS THAT EVEN A WORD? I mean, who uses the word apparel? My questioning thoughts quickly changed to angry thoughts because of all the hard studying that would go down the drain because of the word apparel. I was so mad, in fact, that I yelled at the speaker, "CAN YOU TALK LOUDER AND GIVE ME AN EASIER WORD TO SPELL?" But I just said that in my head, so nobody else could hear it but me. I realized I was taking a long time at the mike with over 9000 pairs of eyes staring at me, so I attempted my best.



"Apparel. A, p, a, r, e, l. Apparel."




"I'm so sorry Yongjay. The proper spelling is a, p, p, a, r, e, l."




I stood there with a shocked look on my face, and ran off the stage.



I remember this as my best experience not because I was the fourth person to get out, but because I made it to the Bee in the first place. I had succeeded in spelling. But now, come to think of it, the spelling bee was nothing compared to my other best experience in life...

I was at Six Flags. I really, really loathed Six Flags because there was nothing to ride, mainly because I was too scared to ride the rollercoasters there. It was just so intimidating! Every drop, someone would shriek, forcing me to shudder.



It just so happened that I was there with my friend, Daniel, who absolutely loved riding rollercoasters. In pictures, he would be the only one screaming with delight when everyone else was yelling in fear, wishing the ride to be over. In other words, he was a rollercoaster freak that couldn't ride alone.



"C'mon, you chicken, can't you ride Kingda Ka with me? It's not even that long and scary. Blink, and it'll be over!"




"NO! If you want to ride it so badly, ride it by yourself!" I countered back.




"Noob."


We spent the rest of the day in silence, not looking at each other. I then realized that if I didn't ride, I would lose a friend. Riding and getting Kingda Ka over with would be better than losing a friend.



"Fine, only once though.. You're a great friend." I uttered sarastically.

So we headed towards the rollercoaster, and luckily, to my benefit, it was closed due to the construction of Zumanjaro, a new ride.

"Ohhhhh my God.... Why does it have to be closed now? I guess we can't ride it today..." I moaned, trying to conceal my happiness and relief. But the bad news was that he had noticed my concealment.



"Ha, nice try. Nitro's still open, so why don't we ride that?" he asked.



"... Okay."



We headed over to where Nitro was, and waited on line for around an hour, and the moment came at last. We were on Nitro, slowly but surely going up for the first drop. I was starting to panic, because the drop went straight down, not 80°, but a 90° straight drop.

"Hey, Daniel, it's been really nice knowing you. You've been a great friend, and I'm really sorry for the time I stuffed your underwear in the freezer."



"WHAT?!"



Just then, we plunged down, and I felt a lurching sensation in my stomach.

Now, I can ride rollercoasters without fear. I regard this as my best non-academic experience because I conquered a fear that seemed unconquerable. I did the impossible. Thank you, Daniel.