Scientists believe that people with IQs are less likely to socialize with friends because they are more intelligent than the average human being. They feel very comfortable in their own personal space, don’t want to try new things and they stay out of trouble. However, there are opposite cases. Now I would like to present my case.
Usually when I think of a smart kid, I think of a student who gets good grades, is a goody two shoes, and always tries hard in school. Well, here we have me. I am not an average child. I am intelligent, I can solve higher grade math problems in less than a minute, and can read a difficult book in one day, but one thing is for sure—I am a troublemaker. I do not like school, I waste all my time on video games, and play tricks on my family and friends. I never want to try hard in school but I always get high scores. My family always insisted on studying, but I never listened to them because I knew I was smart but too lazy and intentionally missed classes thinking that school was not important.
One day I was sitting in my room and I heard a knocking on the door. Who might it be? I wasn’t expecting anybody on a Sunday night, I thought to myself. I peeked out of my door to see who was talking to my parents. I couldn’t believe my eyes! It was my principal! What is she doing here? She had a strict expression on her face. I realized that now she will tell my parents about all the classes I have been missing. For the first time in my life, I could feel my heart skipping beats. I was full of anxiety. However, the principal was pretty calm and asked me to take part in a spelling bee. She knew I was very good with a variety of difficult words. What impressed me was that she did not tell my parents about the missing classes that made me feel ashamed. As I was slowly going down the steps, I finally came up to her. She looked at me with a friendly smile. “Would you like to join our spelling bee? It starts tomorrow morning.” I wasn’t interested in going to this trivial spelling competition. It seemed like it was worth a shot.
“Sure..” I mumbled.

“Great! See you tomorrow,” she said in a thrilling voice. I went back to my room, and went to bed with the thought of the spelling bee.
The morning came faster than the speed of light. The sun broke into my windows, which woke me up immediately. I stretched my arms thinking about what I would do today. I did not intend to go to school today because I was sick and tired of dull math lessons. The math teacher was repeating again and again about integers that I already knew in the second grade. All of a sudden, I remembered about the spelling bee my principal invited me to, but hesitated in getting up. I could hear my mom’s hollers coming from downstairs in the kitchen.
“John! Hurry up, you will be late for the spelling bee.” I completely forgot what I promised to the principal. Though I did not want to go there, I told myself that it was my obligation to arrive on time. In a couple of minutes I was wearing a blue ironed shirt with a black bow tie, stylish jeans and shiny shoes. When my mother saw me, she could not believe it. “You look like a professor!” she said in an excited voice. Luckily my neighbor gave me a ride, and in a couple of minutes I was waiting in the auditorium for the contest to begin.
When I walked on the stage, the audience’s buzzing immediately dropped to whispers. It was so quiet, everybody’s eyes were on me. I even overheard one couple talking about me. “What is he doing here? He is famous for missing classes.” Holding back my words, the principal came up to the light and announced that the spelling contest was going to start now. There were ten participants from my school who looked very confident and had grins on their faces staring in my direction. They were positive that one of them would be a winner but definitely not me.
When the competition started, the principal did not waste a second, and went straight into asking the questions. I started to realize that the questions were not that easy. I could not answer the questions on time because I was not one hundred percent sure of the spelling of

some words. I realized that such words as unanimous, vengeance, superintendent were really difficult to spell. I felt nervous since I had to perform in front of a huge crowd. I was used to taking tests in the quiet with no pressure on my shoulders. I could feel my face getting red and becoming sweaty. My facial expression showed a lack of confidence. Only now I began to understand that chances to win the competition were very slim. I thought I was above everybody else, but I proved myself wrong.
When the contest was over, the principal was announcing the winners. I was sure I would win first place. However, I was lucky to earn third place. There was no end to my disappointment. As I was packing my backpack, I felt a light tap on my shoulder. As I turned around, I saw the winners in front of me. They congratulated me, extended their hands for a high five and invited me for an ice cream party. I did not expect this attitude. Only now I understood that I was too bold, too confident, too self reliant which resulted in the lack of friendship. I thought that I was better than everyone else and this was my mistake. I knew that arrogance was not my path.