Reflective Essay: A Bus Ride To Queensbury High School

I disappeared into the land of nerds a long time ago. Of all the activities I have participated in throughout high school as a result of this, Quiz Team has been the most accepting of my quirky nature. The experience of a match is strange. The bus ride to Queensbury High, where most matches take place, is filled with jokes, trivia, and music, with Fergalicious being played at least once a night. All this, in preparation of the nerdly warfare that is to take place. But once it comes time to play, all I have is focus. My hands are tense and sweaty as I grip the buzzer, thumb paused over its button, ready to push down at any moment. The readers ask the questions and when I know the answer, I make my buzzer sound, delivering my response with a cool and calm efficiency, only betrayed when I wipe the sweat off my hands.
The goal of each match is, naturally, to win and as captain I arrange my team members to compete in an order that maximizes our chances, while also trying to give everyone a chance to play.
The team does well enough, but it has never mattered whether we win or lose. Of course winning is nice, but if we lose, we shrug and someone says, “Lose with dignity,” and we joke just as we would any other time as the bus makes its way to Taco Bell for the traditional meal. We are all so weird that I can’t help but view each outing as an adventure with much in store. Quiz Team has provided me with a peculiar group of friends that I wouldn’t trade for the world and an even more peculiar form of confidence that I did not know before, that has taught me to just take a breath and dive in head first to anything I enjoy. And everywhere I go with my team, I try to embody this lesson to the fullest extent. Had I not joined Quiz Team, I would not have become as outgoing or as willing to share my ideas as I am now. My high school experience has been much more fulfilling as a result of joining and participating in Quiz Team for all four
years.