Week 11 Biographical Writing

Note: For week 11 of my biography, I chose to write about a math competition I competed in when I was in 4th grade. My last writing was told in the first person, so I chose to tell this one in the third person, using the same character name I’ve been using in my other stories. Unlike my last story, this was a cool moment I had in my childhood, and it was fun to relive.

The Underdog

As a child, Percy was fairly advanced at math. He generally worked at least a grade level ahead of the rest of his class, and was event sent to a different school on certain days to learn with others like him. One day, his teacher approached him and asked him if he wanted to compete in a math competition. He wasn’t aware that math competitions were a thing, but it sounded like fun. What the teacher hadn’t told him was that every other student at the competition was a 5th grader, while he was only a fourth grader. He figured this out soon after arriving, but he thought it would be fun nonetheless to try and see how well he could do. There was a team and individual completion, and Percy wasn’t overly surprised when he found out his team had gotten second place. There were other smart kids on his team, and he thought they might do well. When they began naming the individual winners, Percy had all but tuned out. Everyone 5th place or higher got a ribbon, and when Percy heard the 5th place name get called and it wasn’t him, he knew he wouldn’t receive a ribbon. It was unlikely he would place higher than everyone else already up there. So when Percy’s name was called out for first place, he wasn’t even listening. His mom had to come wake him from his daydream to tell him the good news, and embarrassed that everyone had been waiting for him, Percy scrambled up to the stage to accept his ribbon.  

Image of a Math Competition