The Spelling Bee

On march 5th I experienced my middle school's spelling bee. I was pleasantly surprised with the excitement that the day brought. The whole school was there to watch and cheer for the spellers. The students loved watching their friends get word after word correct. They even celebrated the students who missed words. The crowd was supportive and great to see, considering students can be cruel to one another.

Now onto the spellers. The spellers ranged from straight A students to students who seem to not care about school at all. All of them competing to see who could spell that last word correctly. The spellers also ranged from nervous to excited. Some students thrived in the environment while others shied away from the microphone completely. They wanted to be invisible but their skill with spelling words continued to put them in the spotlight. 

The third round is when the words started to take their toll. They got considerably harder and many spellers could not muster the right letters to conquer the words. The chairs on stage began to empty one by one. It began to look more lonely on the stage. The students had to trust themselves and remain calm as their classmates continued to vanish from the stage and leave only an empty chair behind. 

I will forever relish experiencing the school spelling bee. It was an experience like no other with students spelling their hearts out on that stage. The winner and alternate get to compete in the regional spelling bee against their rival schools best spellers. While they may not make it to Washington you could not deter these students from spelling every word with caution and confidence. 

The last three students would not give an inch to each other as word after word they spelled without flaw and continuing to put pressure on each other. No one would talk though. They were determined to win and show the school they were the best speller that the school had to offer. The crowd was mesmerized as the collective feeling in the room could not get more tense. 

With the list of words dwindling the students were sent back to their last period class. All left in the anticipation of two spellers that did not want to be dethroned. 

Now a couple days after the national Spelling bee I look back on my experience with fondness. Watching the student in Washington D.C. compete reminds me they all start at a school spelling bee with hopes of making it to D.C. The completion stays fierce and the students continue to spell. Spelling is a lost art today with spell check and kids iPhones using autocorrect.  I hope the joy of this event will help students see the value of spelling in a new world where its purpose is lost. 

Big Ten Title Finish

           Coming down to the last two weeks of conference play in big ten basketball there are three teams in a tight race. Purdue, Wisconsin, and Maryland all have a chance to hang a banner in honor of a 2017 Big Ten regular season championship. Here are the standings as they stand after the weekend.

Purdue       11-3

Wisconsin  11-3

Maryland   10-4

Let's take a look at their remains schedules and see how it should all pan out. First let's start with Maryland who currently is a game behind the leaders. 

vs. Minnesota

vs. Iowa

@ Rutgers

vs. Michigan State

Maryland has the easiest schedule of the three contending teams. They should be the decided favorite in every game they have left. They have two possible tough home games against Minnesota and MSU and a favorable home game against Iowa. They should win all three of those game and then easily dispatch of an improved but still clearly the worst team in the Big Ten against Rutgers on the road. So let's say Maryland goes 4-0 and finishes the year 14-4. 

Next we have Wisconsin who is tied atop the Big Ten with Purdue. Here is their schedule:

@ Ohio State

@ Michigan State

vs. Iowa

vs. Minnesota

Wisconsin has three common opponents with Maryland over the last four games. The biggest difference being they have to go to East Lansing to face Michigan State. They also have a more difficult game against a talented but inconsistent Ohio State team. Wisconsin could easily fall in one of their two road games. Michigan State will be playing for its tournament lives albeit without key contributor Eron Harris. If Wisconsin can make it through those two games unscathed they should be able to win out with their last two games at home. With the loss of Harris and Koenig coming back in an impressive showing against Maryland, Wisconsin should also be able to finish out the year 4-0 and finishes 15-3.

Finally we have Purdue who is tied with Wisconsin at the top of the standings and holds the tiebreaker with both Wisconsin and Maryland, beating both in their only games against each other this year. Here is their remaining four games.

@ Penn State

@ Michigan

vs. Indiana 

@ Northwestern

Purdue easily has the most difficult road ahead. They play three of four on the road and a rivalry game at home. Purdue has to beat Penn State on Tuesday to have a chance at the title. They have shown they can battle with the best even on the road, beating Maryland and Michigan State on the road already. Michigan is one of if not the hottest team in the Big Ten right now. That game should be electric and has big implications for Michigan's tournament hopes even in the wake of their victory over Wisconsin. Northwestern has their best team ever possibly and one that will likely end their tournament drought. They will be hyped to play for the seniors they love and celebrate what should likely be a spot in the tournament. Purdue is probably the most talented team but with the schedule ahead they will have to be at the top of their game every night to go undefeated. With that I think Purdue will drop one of the games against Michigan or Northwestern and finish 3-1 with a total record of 14-4. 

With that being said here are the predicted standings at the end of the year:

Wisconsin 15-3

Purdue      14-4

Maryland  14-4

       This leaves Wisconsin at the top right where we thought they'd be at the beginning of the year closely followed by Purdue and Maryland, with Purdue taking second based on the head to head matchup. 

      It seems that it's going to come down to the wire to decide the title. There will be some tense games for all three teams down the stretch and who handles them best will most likely win the title and set themselves up with a nice seed in the tournament.