My Olympiad journey goes back as far as the 7th grade. Or wait, was it the 5th?.. Honestly, it’s hard to pinpoint exactly when I set off on a quest for a coveted crimson diploma, but somewhere between joining my first English club and opening my first Gulov’s book a spark of interest for English was kindled.
To get a blow-by-blow account, let’s jump into the Wayback Machine!
5th grade
THE CRADLE OF ALL
My first extracurricular class of English at a cozy club in my city. My eyes ablaze with interest, my heart crying out for more and my passion for the English language surging up inside me.
100 new words a day - no big deal! Zipping through each book that I could lay my hands on? Consider it done! What a perfect strategy for the win, don’t you agree?
Judge me all you want, but back in the day English was all about unbridled enthusiasm and unabashed love (sometimes quite cruel and unrequited, but still intrinsically love). Love that manifested itself in the most quirky ways, including going into overdrive.
6th grade
‘WORKING MY WAY AROUND TO THE TOP’ MODE ACTIVATED
The 6th grade was all about arming myself with the bare necessities: hitting the B1-B2 grammar books, squeezing the most common English words into my head, tapping into various learning sources - you name it. At that stage, Olympiad-heavy content was hardly in my line of vision. Doing my bit and enjoying the process seemed a good enough strategy to win my spurs one day.
7th grade
FANCY HAVING A BITTER BITE AT THE CHERRY?
My first attempt to scale the treacherous mountain named VSOCH. No such luck. Stepping up my effort to grab the brass ring next year
8th grade
AN OLYMPIADNIC IN THE MAKING
The first municipal stage. A triumphantly earned status of a winner. No chance for further progress due to age restrictions, but a wide-eyed child inside of me was still beaming with delight. “The first feather in my cap! What a promising start!’, I vividly remember enthusing while sauntering down the verdurous alley, my mind buzzing at the prospect of gearing up for the next season.
9th grade
THE ROAD TO DAMASCUS MARKED BY MY JOINING THE UPWEGO RANKS
There’s always a turning point in many Olympiadnics’ lives when they realize that something is amiss. Be it a language boost, the ultimate guide to all Olympiads’ subtleties, or, as in my case, a combination of both. Back in October 2020 my process of preparation lacked structure and, let’s be honest, a touch of flair.
The ‘aha’ moment occurred in the 9th grade, right in the run-up to the municipal stage. In striving to make my preparation more effective and wholesome, I immediately began scanning the net for some kind of Olympiadnics’ home from home - a place that would fan my spark into a flame and guide me through the enchanting, yet complicated world of English Olympiads. As luck would have it, my search quickly bore fruit – Upwego’s shining logo and impressive track record of students’ accomplishments literally screamed, ‘Come and go down the rabbit hole with us!’, and so I did.
Needless to say, my expectations were met and exceeded. May I never forget all the hours spent racking my brains - all for the sake of feeling a surge of joy after getting it right.
A MOMENTOUS DATE OF FEBRUARY, 2020
Much as the road towards the next height to the holy grail was hard, the regional stage was won. Won. But not comfortably enough to secure a place in the finals.
10th grade
A SPELL OF FICKLE WINDS GETTING IN MY SAILS
After one more year of firing on all cylinders (read ‘spending virtually every waking hour studying English’) luck smiled upon me. 97/100 at the regional stage. The final destination that I had been grafting to arrive at so tenaciously couldn’t have been nearer. ‘Now it’s just a matter of a final push - keep pressing ahead and soon you’ll enjoy the fruits of your labour’, I kept reminding myself as the top of the mountain was looming on the horizon.
‘Will there be yet another storm to weather? Or a brilliant sun will be gracious enough to shine on me through the clouds?’ I couldn’t help wondering.
Apparently, the forecast was for the stormy weather to break. The gusts of the Olympiad wind were too great for me to fight, so I was left with nothing but hope for one last shot for success next year.
11th grade
A HAPPY ENDING
The instant the storm of doom and gloom was ridden out, I set the declination on my compass to the ‘highest peak’ and ventured into the unknown. The 11th grade seemed veritably uncharted waters - having no diplomas under my belt, I thought it prudent to hedge my bets by equipping myself both on the Olimpiad and EGE front.
You might be thinking that the year was hardly a jolly ride. Admittedly, there had been a great deal of curves and bends on the way, but they only went to show me that braving the elements was within my compass. Once the corner was turned, the top of the mountain was conquered. The harvest of the tremendous work, effort and time put into preparation was finally reaped. The clock struck the hour of blissful happiness.
VSOCH was won. The golden words ‘Диплом призёра Всероссийской олимпиады школьников’ were to become the jewel in the crown of my Olympiad collection.
On that happy note, my story is drawing to a close.
I surely could go on for hours on end about every little gift that Olympiads have lavishly showered me with – a community of like-minded people, a rollercoaster of emotions and valuable life-lessons were all a substantial piece of the puzzle.
But as for now, I feel like rounding off my tale of joy with a fitting line from ‘The Sound of Music’: ‘When the Lord closes a door, somewhere he opens a window.’
No matter how rough intellectual patches may be,
remember: if you choose Olympiads as your main bet, the investment is likely to pay off with interest. Just wait and see :)
