what, you didn't make it?

I remember walking up to the door to the girls' gym at Cameron County High School more than once, looking at the list of the girls who made it for cheerleading or basketball. My name never made those lists. I remember being pretty devastated a few times. It was hard to see my friends' names on the lists. It wasn't fun to see their names missing, like mine, either. I don't really know how close I was to being on those lists, but it was an experience that prepared me for other experiences in life, as well as helping me appreciate those lists that I did make.

Probably most parents encourage their kids to try new things--stick their necks out every once in a while. Either we think our kids are capable of things they can or cannot do, or we hope that someone can see their potential. It's a fine line, deciding when to tell your kids it's a good idea or a bad idea. I guess more often than not, it's great to let your kids try something, even though you may have no idea what their chances of success may be.

Over the past three weeks or so, I have once again felt like that kid, preparing myself for that walk through the front doors of the school, across the lobby, past the library and at the door to the locker room. This time, no one else was around to see the reaction on my face. No one was standing there, high-fiving a friend or two, or complaining about who made it over her. It was just me, at my computer this morning, realizing that we didn't get the votes we needed to get into that top twenty.

As much as I would have loved winning the contest, it has been obvious for a few days, maybe a week, that we probably couldn't make it into the top twenty. But my friends, and especially my sister, Joyce, never gave up, atleast on the outside. I had people voting for me from all over the globe. I got hourly messages of encouragement. New members joined my Facebook "fan club" every day, and the club grew to over 500 members. I am sure people didn't always love getting the daily voting reminders, but they kept on voting.

We might have had a chance to pull ourselves into the top twenty. Several of my friends mentioned that there are programs that help you to vote hundreds of times for yourself, without being caught. I know they were trying to help, but that just wasn't the way to win this. Realistically, I think the contest was designed more for publicity than for finding the next blogger extraordinaire. I'm not saying they are looking for a bad writer. But the vote getting probably gave me an advantage over plenty of writers more experienced and better than I.

Entering this contest taught me a few things. I have a lot of friends out there, who will support me, even when maybe I have no chance to win. I have a sister who is cleverer and more internet savvy than I'll ever be. People I've never met might just be willing to spend plenty of time, trying to get me more votes. There are a lot of really nice people out there, and while the internet might feel like a network of heartless machines, on the other side of those screens are millions of people who really, really care!

My name won't be on the list this time. I doubt that I'll enter this kind of contest again, but I know that I will vote for friends, and friends of their friends, in their pursuits for contest victories! Just this week, my internet friends and I were voting to get our high school's game televised, and we won! I was part of a winning team, and supported the boys who have played so hard this season for my alma mater.

What I will do now is write. I learned that I absolutely love writing. If I can find people who want to read what I've written, perfect! If not, I have found an easy way to keep myself in a good mood, and though I could have been blogging all along, I've started a habit well worth keeping!