School portraits / School life · April 2024
The Worst Time to Stop Listening
Two Latin competitors found the familiar way to dodge disappointment at an awards ceremony.
An awards ceremony is an inconvenient thing to sit through when you think you have lost. At the April 2024 state math contest, Latin School of Chicago’s Jack Lyons and Gideon Heltzer had made a small mistake in the oral round. Their coach later told the school paper they were not feeling confident.
If you have ever decided you already know the bad news, you know the next move: you stop counting places and let the names wash past, which feels kinder right up until the name you actually needed walks by.
The placements were announced in reverse order. By third place, then second, the two had stopped listening. First place went to Latin. They missed it completely. Those around them had to yell and repeat the news until Jack’s astonishment finally caught up.
Imagine having to interrupt your own disappointment because you have won. Sorry, could everyone go back a moment? You were busy having a terrible afternoon.