The Contest I Wish I Hadn’t Won

When I was in forth grade, I entered a Girl Scout essay contests. I had to write an essay about why I liked Girl Scouting. I remember my mom making me sit down at the end of our dining room table to write. As a young child, reading and writing were difficult for me, so I was reluctant, but motivated by the “prize” for winning.

It wasn’t long until I realized how easy it was to write about something I truly liked. I first brainstormed everything I liked about Girl Scouting. Then I wrote it down in sentences. I remember my mom in the kitchen cooking something and reminding me of things in Girl Scouting that I had done. When I was finished, she came over and sat down in the chair next to me to help me edit it. My mother was great at editing marks. I wonder where she learned them all! She corrected my spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors and showed me where my paragraphs should be. By the time she was done, my paper was full of red ink, but my ideas were still intact.

I sat down and wrote my final draft in my very best cursive handwriting on wide ruled loose-leaf paper. When I was finished, I was so proud of my piece. Here is what it said:


Why I Like Girl Scouts
I like Girl Scouts because it is fun. I like all of the special Service Unit and council events such as, Thinking Day, Juliette Low’s Birthday Party, the Banquet and Brownie Adventure Day.
Last year at Thinking Day we saw Danish Dancers. I like the film “The Golden Eaglet” that we saw at the Juliette Low Birthday Party. I like being able to entertain my mother and father at Banquet. At Brownie Adventure Day I have enjoyed seeing the puppeteer, clown and mime. I like the mime the best.

I like troop meetings too. During my five years as a Girl Scout I have enjoyed singing to senior citizens, having fun parties, learning about different people in other places and working on badges.

Through earning badges I have learned about other people, first aide, horses, traveling, different foods, dancing and computers.

I like camping the best. I like troop camping because I get to sleep in a tent with my friends. I like other Girl Scout Camps such as Day Camp and Resident Camp. At Day Camp I really like the crafts, games, hiking and cooking out. At Resident Camp I like horseback riding, archery and making new friends. I like Girl Scout because it is fun and it keeps getting better.


We sent the essay in and in a few weeks I was informed that I had won the contest. I received two “prizes”. My first “prize” was that I got to go and sit in the VIP section at the Star City Parade. My Girl Scout troop was winter camping at the Girl Scout lodge that weekend and I had packed for a weekend of camping, which would include my mother and I taking off in the brown, station wagon to Lincoln for the parade. When I got up on Saturday morning, I put on the best clothes I had packed. I really hadn’t been thinking that I needed to dress nicely to go to the parade. I put on a pair of hand-me-down, ugly, dark blue, denim jeans along with a hand-me-down, ugly, pink and blue sweater. None of which really fit me all that well.

When I went down the stairs, my mother was appalled at my appearance. She wasn’t a neat freak or a fashion queen and she knew I was the messiest kid in town, but she wasn’t happy with what I was wearing and asked if I had anything else to wear. I don’t remember the exact words she said to me, when I told her it was the best I had packed, but I remember it hurt that she was disappointed. I think I remember her saying she was embarrassed by my appearance. This is the only time in my whole life I remember disappointing my mother and I’ll never forget how it felt. Thank goodness it was a freezing cold December day and I had to keep my coat on the entire time. It helped hide half of the ugliness of my outfit.

We met a lady from the Girl Scouts in Lincoln (who was dressed very fashionably, but not practical for the cold temperatures). I remember sitting on the cold metal bleacher and watching the giant balloons go by. It was so cold though, that it was hard to enjoy the parade, but I did my best despite the freezing temperatures. I remember taking a break from the cold inside a near by bank to warm up a bit, but mostly I remember trying to pull down my coat and hide my ugly jeans from the pretty woman with the beautiful, long, auburn hair sitting next to me. Trying to make my mother less embarrassed by me.

The second part of my “prize” wasn’t much better. I couldn’t sleep the night before. I was just too nervous. I had to wake up early the next morning and again my mother and I traveled to Lincoln to make two Girl Scout cookie commercials at the capital. I had to wear my Girl Scout uniform, so no wardrobe malfunctions this time!

The first commercial was with a group of Girls Scouts from all over. We made the commercial on the steps of the capital building. It was a cold and windy January morning and I remember having to do several takes because the microphone wasn’t catching what the woman was saying against the whipping wind. It didn’t take too long however and it was really exciting. After that, my mother and I ate lunch. I don’t remember going out to eat. We didn’t ever go out to eat, so I think I would remember if we had. So I assume my mom packed a picnic lunch. It was probably tuna fish sandwiches. I’m sure it was good. Everything my mom made was good.

The second commercial was the horror story of my television career. You see, in November there had just been a governor’s election and I was routing for Helen Bosalis. She was a grandmotherly sort of person and a democrat. It was the very first political race I had ever gotten excited about, because I would be making a commercial with whoever won the race. Unfortunate, Helen lost and Kay Orr won. I was devastated. I was less than excited about making a commercial with the new governor, but my mother encouraged me through the whole processes.

The commercial taping didn’t go very well. First of all Governor Orr was late. Not just a little late, over an hour late. Then of course, before we could even start taping, she had to spend about half an hour fixing her hair and makeup. Coming from a family where hair and makeup weren’t important, this was hard for me to understand. It was getting to be late afternoon and I had been up for many many hours by the time we actually started taping. And then, I couldn’t believe it. Governor Orr kept messing up! We had to start over and over again. All she had to do was read a few lines off big white cards, but she couldn’t even do that. My job was to stand next to her while she talked and then on cue I was to look at her and smile. The rest of the time, in order for me to get proper eye contact with the video camera, they placed a Thin Mint cookie on a desk across the room and I was supposed to stare at it and not move. At first I was able to stare with a smile, but by the final take, I was so tired (and irritated at the woman for messing up so many times) that I could no longer smile. By the final take, my face looked blank and exhaustion had consumed me. On the way home, as I sat in the front seat of the big, brown, station wagon alongside my mother, I leaned my head on the car door and fell asleep.

The commercials aired on channels here in Lincoln. I never got to actually see myself on the television, but the pretty lady that took us to the parade taped them for me so I could watch them. I was pretty bad. Kay Orr of course was perfect. Sometimes I think back and wonder, what if I could have just smiled through that commercial. Would some talent scout have noticed me and then I would have become some famous movie star or something? My 15 minutes of fame…wasted on a commercial with a woman I didn’t like.

My picture with the governor and my winning essay were printed in the local paper and I was the star of the town for a short while. I still have the article and I share it every year with my students.