Our school's team (of which I am a member) lost the regional competition in the semifinals yesterday.
Yeah, yeah. I can accept that.
What saddens me though is that after having done this for 3 years, I will never be able to do it again; I can never redeem myself.
[sob]
But the thing I'm hearing from my parents and others is that it's all a "learning experience".
It is. But that's not all it is. To say that it is all a "learning experience" is to totally miss the point.
If I wanted a learning experience, I could have done problems from a book, signed up for a class, or attended a super-special seminar.
I have a bit of a competitive streak (though definitely not as much as some people I know). I wanted to win, especially after last year's similar defeat in the regional semifinals.
Hence, I did Science Bowl. Quantum ElectroDynamics (QED).
Furthermore, Science Bowl requires one to learn a bunch of trivia that isn't really useful (until much higher-level applications) outside of Science Bowl itself. While I won't say that all that I have learned has suddenly become for nought, it saddens me that I don't get another chance at this.
I lost. If it was a learning experience, I could use the lessons of my failures in the competition the next time around.
Except, for me, there is no next time around. This means that Science Bowl can no longer be a learning experience for me.
So, the people who call it just a "learning experience" (to console me or whatever) are being willfully blind to the other half of the competition - the competition.
That said, I would like to see our future teams do well. I plan to talk to (and maybe even coach a little, given our actual coach's frequent absences) the 2 team members (both in 10th grade) who will be on the team next year on what to do then.
Hopefully, that will work out.
Showing posts with label science bowl. Show all posts
Showing posts with label science bowl. Show all posts
2009-12-04
Recommendation Communication Issues
I'm starting to have doubts about the coach of our school's Science Bowl team, of which I am a member.
For one thing, she doesn't really seem to be that enthusiastic about us practicing. She has, for whatever reason, started ending practices at 3:15pm (rather than the 3:45pm typical of the last 2 years). She probably has a lot on her plate, but she never says so when asked to explain this change.
Yesterday there was supposed to be a practice. The day before that, I told her that myself and another student would be doing the Continental Math League, so we would be about half an hour late. She was agreeable with this and promised to continue practice. However, by the time we got there (exactly when we said we would), no one was inside the room, which was locked. When I asked her about it this morning, she did say that the other students were a bit impatient and decided to go ahead and leave for their other clubs. However, when I reminded her about myself and the other student coming late, she said that 2 days before (when I first mentioned it) I never mentioned the other student coming/being late.
Wait, what?
I've asked her to write me a recommendation for the Meyerhoff Scholars Program at UMBC. She kindly agreed to do so. She sent the recommendation out a day before the deadline for postmarking it, which is fine. Oddly, though, it got sent to my house rather than to the university. Yesterday, I told her about it, so she said to bring the material in a new envelope without my address (added as a supplement) so that she could resend it.
Today, when I brought it to her, she was irked that I took out the material from the original envelope and put it in the new one. She decided to break the seal just to make sure I hadn't tampered with the recommendation letter, then resealed it with tape.
For one thing, what would I have to gain from even reading (much less modifying) the letter? (She said, "I hope you enjoyed what you read." Wait, what?)
For another, she basically totally contradicted what she had said the previous day.
It seems that she has some rather serious communication issues (both on the speaking and listening ends), or maybe she isn't really thinking about what she says to me or what I say to her.
Gah!
For one thing, she doesn't really seem to be that enthusiastic about us practicing. She has, for whatever reason, started ending practices at 3:15pm (rather than the 3:45pm typical of the last 2 years). She probably has a lot on her plate, but she never says so when asked to explain this change.
Yesterday there was supposed to be a practice. The day before that, I told her that myself and another student would be doing the Continental Math League, so we would be about half an hour late. She was agreeable with this and promised to continue practice. However, by the time we got there (exactly when we said we would), no one was inside the room, which was locked. When I asked her about it this morning, she did say that the other students were a bit impatient and decided to go ahead and leave for their other clubs. However, when I reminded her about myself and the other student coming late, she said that 2 days before (when I first mentioned it) I never mentioned the other student coming/being late.
Wait, what?
I've asked her to write me a recommendation for the Meyerhoff Scholars Program at UMBC. She kindly agreed to do so. She sent the recommendation out a day before the deadline for postmarking it, which is fine. Oddly, though, it got sent to my house rather than to the university. Yesterday, I told her about it, so she said to bring the material in a new envelope without my address (added as a supplement) so that she could resend it.
Today, when I brought it to her, she was irked that I took out the material from the original envelope and put it in the new one. She decided to break the seal just to make sure I hadn't tampered with the recommendation letter, then resealed it with tape.
For one thing, what would I have to gain from even reading (much less modifying) the letter? (She said, "I hope you enjoyed what you read." Wait, what?)
For another, she basically totally contradicted what she had said the previous day.
It seems that she has some rather serious communication issues (both on the speaking and listening ends), or maybe she isn't really thinking about what she says to me or what I say to her.
Gah!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)