I was in the 6th grade, when I realized things were not always equal. My middle school was hosting a talent show, and the prize for the second-place winner was $500; first place was $1,000. This show was all about dancing, so of course, my best asset was just that! I knew I had the skills to take home the first-place prize, give back to my community, and then shop! I had to show out on stage, and you better believe, I showed up and showed out. There were some good competitors on stage, but I felt as though, no one could beat my routine. There was one girl, who everybody seemed to be watching, and mind you she was white. My skill of dance was Hip-Hop, and the girl’s skill was Poms. Not only did she mess up in the middle of her routine, she didn’t bow to the audience once she finished dancing. At the end of the talent show, I just knew that I was the winner and I could literally taste the prize. When the judges called the second-place winner, I was shocked: “Vania Scales, congratulations, you are our second-place ``winner!” The judges chose the white girl over me. I was crushed; I just knew that my dance was better than hers, but I just didn’t understand why they picked her. Was it because she was white? After we got off the stage, a girl from the audience came up to me yelling, “I really thought your performance was better, and I would have picked you.” I responded in my head, “yeah but you weren’t the judge, so I really don’t care about your opinion right now!” I waited about 2 minutes and replied by saying, “Thank you so much, maybe my dance was a little too much and hers was probably just right.” We talked for about 10 minutes before being interrupted by "the white girl", the one who beat me, the one who was taking home MY MONEY!! In her light pitched voice, she said "I just wanted to tell you that you did a good job on stage, I just knew you...” I cut her off immediately because I really didn’t want to hear what she was talking about. All I could say was congrats on the first-place win.