Yesterday, for the second year in a row, I got to participate in Carroll Literacy Council’s third annual Scrabble Madness tournament, which was hosted here on the Hill. The tournament is open to anyone who is in sixth grade or older, and each team ranges from one to three players.

I played last year as a last-minute alternate on a team with two McDaniel then-seniors. To our huge surprise and delight, we ended up winning the tournament!

Because we did so well last year, I, as the only member of my team who is still in college, was asked by the English department to form a new Scrabble team, which I happily did. I named my team “The Whom” and excitedly went into the tournament yesterday with the goal of reaching the final round again.

Unfortunately, after two rounds of competition, The Whom got sixth out of fifteenth place, just two places shy of having enough points to be one of the top four teams who got to play in the final round.

Still, we really enjoyed playing in the first two rounds, which all of the 15 teams got to play in. Our second game was particularly challenging yet rewarding, since we drew mostly vowels and were playing against teams that had an affinity for playing short and simplistic words. Though it seemed really difficult as we were playing it, we finished that round with a satisfying score of over 175 points, which contributed nicely to our two-round total of 325 points. It was definitely a fun challenge!

If you like Scrabble, definitely seek out sponsorship to be in the tournament when you come to McDaniel. Though the fee to register a team is $100, departments on campus such as the English department and Academic Affairs happily sponsor student teams, so you could very well end up paying nothing to compete. The rewards of competing are great! You get to spend an afternoon playing Scrabble with others in order to benefit Carroll Literacy Council and their endeavors in Carroll County. You’ll also get a complimentary Scrabble Player’s Dictionary : )