I Finally Entered and Won!

Generally, I grew up hating competitions from school, shops, newspapers, organisations- everyway.  Maybe if I had won, that is all I needed. But in spite of moving around with Talismans, praying the rosary and doing everything in my power I never got to the winning stage in any competition,  not even in the form of a consolation prize. As a result, my desire to entire competitions diminished as time went by.

Towards the end of my sixth grade year, an enticing competition was announced. But even though it was a different event altogether unlike the raffles we had been used to, I was not motivated enough to consider partaking in the event. The show involved groups not individuals and my friends persuaded me to give it a try. During an organised sponsored dance pupils were expected to entertain parents and all those present in the form of a dance as group dances were all the rage back then. Cliques were called upon to audition and to imitate the moves on Aaliyah’s ‘Are You That Somebody?’.

The best winners were to walk away with the grand prize of going on holiday to Kariba, a renowned tourist resort centre in Zimbabwe in addition to food and cloth hampers. My friends signed up for the challenge, reluctanty I tagged alone. Daphne, was the dancer from our side of the group, her body was flexible and besides she was in possession of superior leadership skills. She helped the rest of us get into shape. The function was held on a Saturday from the early hours of the morning right up to dusk.

A total of fifty groups were to perform at the sports field. We were last in line and whilst other groups had made a couple of mistakes here and there from our side every move was perfect. To wrap up the functions all those present were made to vote for the best group. On Monday during assembly the results were announced. Our group had won!!! For the first time, I entered something and won. I felt like I was on top of the world. Fine I should give the other guys credit too as it was more of group effort.