By Gyselle Mclean
My name is Gyselle Mclean. I am 10 years old and I am a 4th grader at Amidon Bowen Elementary School. This year would be my 3rd year competing in the Amidon Bowen Elementary School spelling bee. I am the 1st place Winner of the 2019-2020 spelling bee.
My spelling bee experience has been extremely exciting and sometimes overwhelming. The spelling bee consists of 3rd through 5th grade students. The top 4 spellers from each class were able to participate in the spelling bee. I was elated to be one of the finalists.
Preparing for the spelling bee took a lot of time and focus. My favorite way to study is when my mom reads the words aloud and I try to spell them. After about two weeks of studying, I felt confident to do my very best. The morning of the spelling bee I was very anxious and excited all at the same time. When I was getting my competition number and walking on stage, I saw my mom and my stepdad, and they gave me a two thumbs-up. Afterwards, everyone took their final second to get ready and we started to spell.
Once we were down to the two finalists, which was a 5th grader and me, we were going back and forth. That was until the 5th grader spelled his word incorrectly. But in order to win, I had to spell my last word correctly. My last word and my victory word were Audience.
At the end, all my hard work paid off. I would just like to thank my family, friends, and teachers for encouraging me to do my best and for lifting me up!