After going to Bell Hill School for five years, I finally got to go the Hennessey School for my fifth grade year. Fifth grade was a really fun year for me. My whole class was full of really cool kids, and we had one of the greatest teachers ever, Mrs. Merchant! The boys played a lot of four square, and I remember the girls playing Tetherball. I remember watching two girls from my class play Tetherball, Margie Rogers and Kathy Hinrichs. Those two would beat every girl they played. One day I was standing there watching them play, and in my head I had this game of Tetherball all figured out. I was also a boy, and being a boy I knew I wouldn’t have any problem beating them at this game of Tetherball. So being the cocky boy that I was, I challenged both of them to a game! I played Margie first. I gave her a good fight in the beginning, but after about 20 seconds she got the ball to go high over my head. Now Margie had the ball out of my reach, and within seconds she had the ball wound up tight against the poll.
I had just lost my first game of Tetherball. I was embarrassed, but that was OK because I knew I would beat Kathy. The next game with Kathy lasted 5 or 6 seconds. Kathy’s first hit got the ball going high over me and she kept it out of my reach the whole time. In a blink of an eye, I had just lost my second game! Now let’s go to the end of my eight grade year. The eight graders were having a Chess Tournament in Mr. Kartozian’s class. I remember we drew names to see who we played in the first round, and Kathy was the person I was playing in the first round. Again the guy thing kicked in and I thought I would beat her without any problem. All I was thinking was “Revenge†was going to be nice! I remember feeling pretty good about my first eight moves, then Kathy took her ninth move and said Checkmate! Then she stood up, smiled at me, and went over to Mr. Kartozian! So did I learn my lesson? “Nah†I can’t wait to sit down and play cards with them, I will beat them both!