No Late Fool's Joke Here: I Was a Poet, and I Didn't Even Know It?

This post is not a belated April Fool's joke. April is also National Poetry Month, bringing us to a fun fact about me. In high school, I received money for a poem I wrote, but I do not remember it.

Let’s go back to high school me. Aww, yes, the awkwardness. At my school district, they had an event called Reflections. From my recollection, it is where students submit work into different categories, and then they win awards for their school. The top winners then go to districts and so forth. The Reflections Contest had a different theme each year, and you could submit written work, drawings, photographs, etc.

I tried for some years to submit work, and I did not win, which is perfectly fine. I was never an overly competitive person. Sometimes, teachers made it a mandatory assignment for all the students in their class. I remember my tenth-grade history teacher did this. When did I remember it? In the middle of the night before it was due. 

It was a large portion of my grade, so I determined it was a priority to do. I shuffled out of bed and went to the computer room (Do you remember those?). I decided I was going to write a poem. I typed away, deciding other than editing big spelling mistakes, whatever I created would be better than a zero in the grade book. I hit print and then went to exit and go back to sleep. This was before the days of auto-saving, so when the pop-up asked if I wanted to save the document, I smirked and hit no. 

The following day I dropped my paper off at my teacher’s desk. I did not think much of it. As mentioned, any grade would be better than a zero. A couple of weeks later, during the morning announcements, they said they had the results of the Reflections contest. In the written component, I won third place at the school level. Everyone cheered, and I was shocked. My poem won third place. That must have been a mistake. 

It was not. I learned there was a reception one day after school, and all my teachers wanted me to attend. As we drove to school, my mom asked about my poem. I told her no idea, probably some lofty idea about world peace. Well, for third place, I won twenty bucks (wonder what that would be worth adjusted to inflation) and my picture in the local newspaper. The judges congratulated me and said that it was great reading my poem. They had the only copy, and I have yet to get it back since it went to the Reflections company. It made for a good laugh afterward. I won money and accolades for an assignment I almost forgot about. On top of that, I do not remember what I submitted. 

If you are worried about your children doing assignments at the last minute, they may turn out to be great products. After all, I was a poet and didn’t even know it.