"The students who get the most questions right in the next five minutes will participate in our school's Geography Bee," my teacher, Mrs. Angacian, explained, as she handed out the test. The test was straightforward; fifteen questions about aspects of the geography of the United States, such as the location of major features, the orientation of interstates, and the capital of states. It seemed interesting enough.

As usual, I sped through it, answering most of the questions. Five minutes passed, and my teacher called time and collected the papers. I was anxious to know how I did, but that would have to wait until the next day. As expected, my teacher had the grades the next day. She was instantly mobbed by my classmates. After calming the class down, she handed back the tests. When I received my test, my eyes immediately flew to the number written in red. Eleven questions right out of fifteen! I was also pleasantly surprised when my teacher told me that I was one of the candidates to be in the bee. I accepted right away.

My teacher also decided to give the class quizzes on the states and their capitals, to get the whole class involved in this. Being one of the participants, I had to do as well as I could to prove that I was ready to participate, I was willing to take the time, and I was determined. I studied for the bee and the quizzes using the map provided in the back of my agenda. The following weeks flew by. I aced (or nearly aced) all of the quizzes my teacher threw at us, except for one, where I didn't do as well. The class responded in a slightly annoyed manner, saying that I had to study more. They obviously didn't want to lose, especially with the so-called "smartest kid in the class" competing. They were slightly correct in saying that. I redeemed myself quickly by doing well on the next few quizzes. By the date of the competition, I was well prepared and ready to compete.

The day of the geography bee went slowly. When it was finally time to compete, my partner and I walked to the auditorium, where we were seated. Streams of students and parents flooded the auditorium quickly. After an eternity, the auditorium finally settled down, and the bee began. As my partner and I answered the questions that were given to us, I realized that the bee wasn't as hard as it looked. I had spent hours studying the capitals, and it turned out that there were only five or six capital-related questions. We only had a chance to answer one of those. The questions were also easier than I had thought; my partner and I had answered ALL of them correctly (even the ones given to the other competitors).

At the conclusion of the bee, the judges announced the winners. "First place goes to Mrs. Angacian's class! Congratulations!" I saw my class jump up and start cheering like mad. I was absolutely thrilled. My hard work and diligence had paid off! At that moment, when my classmates were screaming their heads off, I realized that hard work always pays off, no matter the consequences, and that I had one main objective. I had to start working harder if I wanted to accomplish daunting tasks that I might face in the future.