If you know me, you probably know that I really enjoy Bible quizzing. I was introduced to it in sixth grade when I came to one of my best friend’s quiz-a-thons. Her team lost every round (it wasn’t a great day), but I was totally enthralled. My main thought after that quiz-a-thon was, I have to do this.
And so I started quizzing with the Manheim team in the fall of 2014. I was 12, and I quickly became obsessed with the game. The strategy. The competition.
I remember how excited I was when we first got in the playoffs that year, and how we won first place in our division at the end-of-year retreat. A star-shaped gold medal still sits in my treasure chest from that year–the only time I ever won a first place trophy.
But even that first year, it wasn’t so much the game as it was the people. As soon as I joined that group, I found myself loving their company. I connected with these people, in a way I’d rarely connected with others. Maybe it was because they were all homeschoolers. Maybe it was the diversity of opinions and denominations. But I felt accepted almost immediately.
The next years, I threw all of my effort into quizzing, sometimes at the expense of my other subjects in school. I moved into senior high and ended up on a team with two guys who were, in my mind, wayyy better than me. As an insecure 14-year-old, I was naturally terrified. Yet we ended with a third-place trophy in the top division.
But again, it wasn’t the trophy that mattered so much as the friends I made that year (turns out guys aren’t as scary as I thought :P). The team was small that year, and I built lots of friendships. Quizzing quickly became my preferred friend group.
I quizzed all of my high school years as well. We had our ups and downs (major ups and downs, and I cried way too much), but those friendships continued to develop as I found out more things I had in common with my teammates. The years my former teammates graduated were tough for me, because I didn’t want to lose those friendships.
And then, suddenly, it happened.
I was the senior.
*mindblown*
Wait, that wasn’t supposed to happen! I was supposed to keep quizzing forever, right?
So I devoted myself to quizzing more than ever that year. It’s fair to say that my life pretty much revolved around quizzing in the 2019-2020 season, and I had my best year ever.
And then it ended.
I told myself it was ready to be over. I’d put in all my effort, and I was ready to call it quits. I said goodbye, went home to insane pandemic world, and forgot about quizzing.
Till July 13, when my mom planned a surprise party for me and invited the senior high quizzers.
And I realized how much I was going to miss these people.
Tonight, we finally had our end-of-year celebratory pizza party (it should’ve been in April….thanks, COVID). I got to have a conversation about modern art and mind control, watch a slideshow of some of the year’s best moments, and play Ultimate Frisbee and Spikeball.
But even that had to end. The last people packed up their Spikeball net, said goodbye….and it ended.
On the way home, I wasn’t as happy as usual after hanging out with my friends. Because….it was over.
I thought I loved quizzing, and really, I did. I loved the game, the strategy, the competition, and the way the hard work paid off.
But it was never just the game. Sometimes I forgot, but the game wouldn’t have been the same without my team–not just my 2020 team, but every teammate and every coach I had since that first year when I was a quiet, insecure 12-year-old.
I’m going to miss quizzing with you.
So yeah. I know this got long and rambly, but I just want to say one more thing.
Thank you, members and coaches of the Manheim Bible quiz team. You’ve had a big influence on me, taught me so much, and given me a place where I feel safe and accepted.
You all are awesome <3
