Accounting and Art Anonymous

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My surprise at winning the district FBLA Accounting competition was understandable. Accountants are, on the whole, prosaic individuals, and I didn't consider myself a prosaic person. Or an accountant, for that matter.

Yet I did win, and as a sophomore I received the opportunity to advance to the state competition. Emboldened by my surprise triumph, I studied bookkeeping after school with Mr. Belscher, my avuncular and encouraging accounting teacher, in preparation for Orlando.

My hard work paid off when I won first in the state competition. Out of the entire body of first-level accounting students in Florida, I was (assuming testing is an accurate measure of intelligence) the best. Needless to say, having never before won anything of that magnitude, the victory boosted my self-esteem greatly.

Despite my aptitude, I never ended up becoming an accountant. Or prosaic. Instead, I gravitated towards liberal pursuits: writing and drama. Senior year, I wrote a parodic skit and performed the lead role for the Humanities Society's Homecoming festival entry. Thanks to the hard work of all those involved, we won second. (Naturally, we'd have won first had the judges been able to appreciate quality.)

Apparently, the skit...