I learned how to play the piano from my sister who was taking lessons at the time. She was 9 and I was seven. At eight years old, I started taking lessons, and I practiced and practiced, but woe is me! on the night of the recital, when I was nine years old, I made the mistake of trying to play my piece, "Mexican Claphands Dance," from memory, and as a result I made all kinds of mistakes from nervousness. That made me determined to do well in the duet that I played with my sister later on in the recital, and with her sitting beside me on the piano bench, I took courage and didn't make a mistake. Then when I was 11 and 12, I made mistakes in the Spelling Bee in front of the school (age 11) and then in the classroom spelling bee (age 12). This made me determined that I was going to win the School Spelling Bee when I was in the eighth grade, at age 13. I accomplished that, but made a mistake in the Citywide Spelling Bee that had 58 contestants in it. I came in second, but that has made me work on my spelling even harder, determined not to make mistakes, and in my proofreading and typing of my poems on Fan Story. Failure creates success. And nervousness creates courage.