The National Bible Bee 2016

The National Bible Bee Competition (www.biblebee.org) this year took place in San Antonio, Texas, November 16-20.  My sister and I were competing in the Junior division and my two younger siblings in the Primary division.

My family drove across two states to Texas in our eight-passenger van packed with our personal belongings and a good amount of cookware (my brother has severe allergy to soy, eggs, milk, nuts, and peanuts, so we have to cook all his food).  We took a one-night stop in El Paso before continuing on to San Antonio.

Registration (Wed. 11/16)

When we arrived in San Antonio, I didn't feel much of the "Bible Bee spirit" yet; it was more like living in a dream.  Until Wednesday afternoon, that is.

On the sixteenth (Wed.) we registered and got our name tags.  Our family photo was taken, and right after that a camera crew came up to us and interviewed my siblings and I.  I didn't mind, because I liked interviews, and they said they might see more of us in the following days.

Thursday 11/17

Thursday morning.  I woke up early--a little too early, having slept only six hours.  I ate as much breakfast as I could get down, then reviewed as many passages as I was able to with my mind going all over the place.  I didn't exactly want to admit to myself that I was n-e-r-v-o-u-s.

As I proceeded to the Computer-Based Test Labs, my thoughts kept going back and forth.  You'll do well, one side said.  No, you haven't prepared yourself enough! the other argued.

I took my seat in front of a small laptop in the Lab and waited quietly for the rest of the contestants to arrive.  I kept my eyes open to my surroundings as I tried to calm my beating heart.

I noticed a few people I knew, and some whose names I had seen in the program, and, of course, camera crews.  There was also a lady running back and forth from the Labs to where the parents were, because...someone had forgotten his glasses.  Someone else supposedly forgot his water bottle but it was discovered he already had one.  And yet another person needed her jacket...

Finally it was time to take the test.  I listened to the instructions, followed them carefully, and then pressed the "Start Test" button on my screen.  Dear G-d, I prayed, please help me to do my best, to remember 1 John and all the passages I memorized, and to give all the glory to You.  I relaxed a bit and began to scroll through the questions.

I finished with five minutes left to spare of the 200-multiple-choice-questions-in-one-hour limit.  A few more minutes passed before the last contestant finished his/her test, and we all walked outside the rooms in a single-file line to the Oral Test Staging area.

It seemed as if almost everyone had to use the restroom, and we were already behind schedule!  There was a lot of running and dashing around during that time.

I got nervous again.  I was scared the passages I was asked to recite would be very long ones, and I also felt that I might just totally forget my verses if I was too nervous!  I tried to remind myself that everything was in His hands, and that He knew the results of the tests and scores, and that I didn't have to worry...

Soon it was my turn to recite.  I walked into the room, stepped up to the podium, and took a deeeeeep breath.  I am usually nervous right before recitations but fortunately not during them.

As the contestant judge read the first passage reference, I felt extremely thankful that the passages weren't as hard as I had expected!  I finished in three minutes (and later discovered, praise G-d, that my oral score was a perfect 500!).

Then the Preliminary Rounds (described above) were over, and I got ready for that night's Opening Ceremony and Qualifier Awards Presentation Training.

In my previous years of competing in the Bible Bee the semi-finalists (top 15 from the 120 National competitors) were announced Thursday night during the Opening Ceremony rather than Friday morning in a separate Qualifier Awards Presentation.  I can't say which I prefer, but having to go through the Opening Ceremony wondering the entire time whether or not I was in the Semi-Finals...I couldn't concentrate very well.

When the Ceremony was over, contestants stayed behind for the Qualifier Awards Presentation Training.  This is what we'll be doing tomorrow morning! I thought excitedly as I waited with the other Juniors for our turn on the stage to take a group photo.

Unfortunately something seemed to be going wrong, and the Seniors had to practice walking onto the stage about three times!  The time taken to read aloud 120 names (as each contestant was recognized), sort 120 people in height, etc. wasn't short.  The Primaries (7-10 year olds) were going crazy, the Juniors were laughing and talking, and I was bored--and nervous.

Then finally it was the Primaries' turn for the group photo, and that took even longer.  The Juniors were left by themselves, and someone started singing.  And singing.  And singing.  There were hymns, Christmas carols...I didn't feel like singing and so paced back and forth about five feet or so until it was time for the Juniors to get photos.

We walked onto the stage one by one when our names were called.  When everyone had assembled we were sorted into two groups, depending on whether you were over five feet in height or under five feet in height.  I still had about a half-inch to go before I reached five feet (and I wasn't about to tiptoe), so I ended up in the shorter group.  In overall height I was actually placed in the middle--so, not too bad, I thought, thinking about the time I was a ten-year-old Primary and was one of the ten shortest ones out of 120 7-10 year olds.

Semi-Finals (Fri. 11/18)

The training ended at about ten o'clock at night, and I didn't get much sleep (again!).  We were almost late for the Presentation; my Primary siblings had to run to catch their group, which was about to go on stage.

Some of the Seniors and Juniors waiting backstage were watching the Presentation live stream on their phones (the walls were so sound-proof you couldn't hear anything going on inside the auditorium if you weren't in it).  We all held our breaths when the host started announcing the semi-finalists...I was almost begging inside myself about my siblings--they've worked so hard!  Please, G-d, let them make it...

Then I heard something.  I heard my brother's name being called--he was in the semi-finals!  I was so happy for him.  My sister did not make it, but we later found out she came extremely close--in sixteenth place.

The Primaries were done, and now it was time for the Juniors to take the stage.  My last name started with a "C", so I was one of the first contestants whose names were read.  I received my medal and stood on the stage waiting excitedly for everyone else to receive their medals.

Soon--a little too soon--all the contestants were on the stage, and the host began to announce the semi-finalists.  I was shaking inside; I hoped so badly to be in the semi-finals, an honor which I had not had since my first year in the Bible Bee in 2013 as a Primary contestant.  About half of the qualifiers were announced when I heard one of my friends' names and got excited all over.  But I began to shiver again when the thirteenth name was read...then the fourteenth...and then my name.  I couldn't help smiling and thinking, thank You, G-d, thank You SOOO MUCH!!

The Presentation was over, and so was the training all the semi-finalists were required to take.  I had my little brother (the Primary semi-finalist) with me, but the rest of my family had disappeared!

I was frantic.  The Juniors would compete first, and our competition time would cross noon and past one o'clock.  That meant I'd probably have to eat something before competing...

I walked around the area holding on to my brother with my right hand and trying to study my passages in my left...I had become nervous again.

Twenty minutes passed, and it was time for me to report to the NBB Headquarters with the other semi-finalists (we had to be their a half-hour before competing time to get our microphones on), but I hadn't found my family yet.  My brother stayed with me as I went into Headquarters.  I told them about my situation, left my brother (with my name tag, program, passages, and another load of stuff) inside, and proceeded with the other contestants backstage.

The first round was over, and I had passed safely.  Since I had been the last semi-finalist to be announced at the Presentation, I was also the last one to recite.  Forgetting that each round began in reverse order, I took a short trip to the restroom.

When I had come out, everyone seemed to be rushing me.  "You have to be up on stage right now!" they said.  I rushed up and recited my passage, one of my favorites.  I relaxed as I went backstage.

The second round passed, and the third was beginning.  So far all the contestants who had been eliminated were on my side of the stage (the fifteen of us had been split into two groups), and they were laughing in whispers and talking in whispers.  A camera crew was backstage, and they were filming all of us, even dangling microphones over contestants' heads to catch what they were saying!  The crew actually helped me relax a bit, along with the wonderful directors and division commanders who talked to us backstage!

The finalists had been announced, and I wasn't one of them.  The tiny mistake I made in my recitation was on the second-to-last word, and I had never before committed that error.  Knowing that I was the last one eliminated from the competition because of an error in my passage helped (rerun of what happened in 2013), but I was fighting to control my emotions.  All because of one little mistake...

But then I knew it...I knew that it was all G-d's plan.  He had something else in mind for me, though it might not have anything to do with the Bible Bee, and I felt a little better.

My emotions were stilled about an hour later, as I was in the Family Fun Area playing Foosball (the only thing I ever touched the rest of Friday and all of Saturday).  Many people had come up to me to say how much they enjoyed my reciting, and I realized this was a gift G-d had given me--which I had never thought before of as a gift but as something "I just can do".  Be thankful for everything and follow G-d's will, something inside of me seemed to say, even if it means giving up Finals.  And I can truly say that the passages I memorized and their meanings to me were worth more than $50,000.

Saturday 11/19

I spent most of the day in the Family Fun Area playing Foosball with a few others I had met earlier in the hotel.  The FFA had a large screen showing all the competition live stream, so I was able to find out how the Junior, Primary, and Senior finalists placed (and some of them surprised me!) without having to rush to the auditorium.

That evening was the Celebration Dinner, and there was a reason to celebrate!  The fellowship was wonderful, as was the food, and afterwards I had the chance to talk to a few people.

Because Senior Finals had delayed, the Dinner was also delayed about two hours, and ended close to midnight.  We planned to head back to California at four the next morning.

As I lay on the sofa, trying to fall asleep, I thought, even if there was no Finals the whole Bible Bee was wonderful, wasn't it?  Friends and fellowship, all those passages, the encouragement...

But the last thing I could say is:  Baruch HaShem Adonai--Blessed be the L-rd G-d!