Over the next four blog posts, I’m going to go over the four main parts of Summit-Bible Quizzing, Fine Arts, Awana Games, and Volleyball-to give you some tips I learned over the years, as well as some of my favorite memories. I’ll also cover touring around with my group, the Citation ceremony, and Hotel Hi-jinks (look forward to that one. My favorite story involves a VIP lounge at midnight). This post, as you may have guessed from the title, is going to cover Bible Quizzing.
I Bible-Quizzed for nine years straight, from third to eleventh grades. I would have quizzed in twelfth grade as well, but my family moved to Pennsylvania the summer before and there weren’t any local teams, unfortunately. Over the course of those years, I found myself with a first-place medal five times. The first two times were in fifth and sixth grades, in T&T Regionals; the third and fourth times were both in seventh and eighth grades in Trek at Regionals; and the final time was at Summit in Washington, D.C. my junior year. The other two years in T&T I won Quizzing Champion-a distinction given to those achieving perfect scores in both the written and multiple choice sections of the Quiz.
I don’t say this to brag, or to make anyone feel bad-please don’t misunderstand. I say all this to show you how obsessed I was with Bible Quizzing. I loved it with all my heart, and gave my all every single year, refusing to accept anything less than perfection-one wrong question equaled total defeat in my mind.
While I loved Quizzing, nothing gave me more anxiety than stepping onto the stage or into the quizzing room.
There was adrenaline involved, certainly-normal childhood nerves.
There was also heart stopping, gut-wrenching, sweating terror.
I couldn’t identify it as such then, but now as I look back, I can easily identify it for what it was.
I’ll explain.
From the moment we received our books at the beginning of the year, in September, I was already strategizing and studying. I would finish my book as quickly as I was allowed-usually in under a month-in order to begin buckling down for Quizzing. We didn’t start group practice until January, which was my cue to make my flashcards and mark up my book with copious notes. I carried these cards with me all at times in my pockets, so no matter where I was, I could make use of any down time to study. Needless to say, I was obsessed.
I was also terrified. Of failure, of imperfection, of even remotely disappointing or letting down those I saw as counting on me. I was the Pastor’s Kid, so there was a pressure to be perfect at anything Bible-related. Most of all was Quizzing; it was the epitome of everything a pastor’s kid should be good at.
I also had the advantage of a sharp memory, even from my earliest days memorizing Dr. Seuss and Thomas the Tank Engine almost before I could walk. This gave my Nana quite the scare when the two year old tells her she missed a page. Because of this ability, and the praise that always came with it, I assumed I had no choice but to quiz and to be the best at it. I was the Pastor’s Kid, I had to be good at quizzing, right? Isn’t that how genetics work? If I had this gift, this memory, how could I not use it in Quizzing? How could I not do well?
This is where my fear of making mistakes came from.
If you hear nothing else in this post, please hear this:
It’s okay to make mistakes. In Quizzing, you can buzz in slightly too early, say the wrong verse from Romans (3:23 or 6:23), or grab the wrong paddle. You can trip in Games. You can accidently serve too hard and overshoot the court during the deciding Volleyball match. You can sing a flat note, have your voice crack, or use the wrong form of “there” in Fine Arts.
It’s okay to make mistakes.
Mistakes are where you really learn. Yes, they hurt, and no one wants to make mistakes, especially at a national competition they spent a lot of hard earned money on and put hundreds of hours of practice into. But that verse you add one wrong word into, or change the reference? That’s the one that sticks with you for years to come, not the ones you know and answer correctly.
I earned a different medal every year I quizzed at Summit. Freshman year was a silver, Sophomore year was a gold, and Junior year was platinum. There’s clearly an element of growth attached with such immense progress, but there was also another factor at play: I never quizzed with the same people twice. The group I quizzed with Freshman year was completely different from my Sophomore year team, even though we were from the same church. Junior year my team was from a completely different state halfway across the country.
Every one of these years, in every different group, I made different mistakes, and every year I grew because of them. Without mistakes, there was no way freshman me could have ever made it to junior me with a first place medal around her neck. Without these mistakes, I wouldn’t be the student I am today. I still use my Quizzing memorization techniques for tests and quizzes, and I still use what I learned in the Creative Writing competition in my papers.
(I honestly tried to think of something for Games and Volleyball, but I was never an athlete)
So, all that being said, here’s my final takeaway for this post:
It’s okay to be afraid. It’s okay to make mistakes.
You don’t need a medal around your neck for Summit to be “successful” or have meaning
Don’t let them define you or your experience at Summit. Don’t let them control your life, reshaping everything into a pass or fail situation. Only one team can win, and that’s okay. You don’t need a medal around your neck for Summit to be successful or have meaning.
So relax, have fun, use that rush of adrenaline. Just don’t let Summit, or any competition, define you.
Later this week I’m going to post about Quizzing again, but this time it’ll be much more relaxed and way less heavy. I’m going to share my favorite Quizzing memories from Journey and Summit. If you send me yours, it may make a little cameo in the post. Use the comments, or email summitjourneyalumni@gmail.com. I’ll talk to you soon!
