When I graduated from middle school, I was the only one playing chess competitively in my school. The other kids I had played friendlies with or competed against in tournaments had all moved on to other activities by the time we started high school. Not that I blamed them. Chess can be exhausting, frustrating and demoralizing at times. Progress tends to be slow and success has never come easily for me. But I also knew how rewarding chess could be. I kept doing it and I was happy I did: through chess I learned to love challenges and thrive on strategic decisions. I continued to study and play competitively and traveled to tournaments all over the East Coast. In 9th grade, I finished 10th at the K-12 National Scholastic Chess Championship, but I was the only one playing chess in my school. I wish I had more kids in my neighborhood playing. I realized that if I wanted a chess community, I would have to build one. So I did. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In the same year I founded "Chess With A Champion"; a free, public, educational chess program taught in local public libraries in Arlington. Growing up, I was fortunate enough to receive chess lessons from my elementary school chess club and wanted to pass on my knowledge to a diverse group of new players. I put up some flyers and the classes filled up almost immediately. There were elementary school kids with their moms, some community college students, a group of seniors, and a guy who came to every class on a Harley. A man in the neighborhood donated an old box filled with hundreds of chess pieces, which I spent hours sorting into complete sets. The library staff gave me the keys to a dusty closet on the top floor, and it's no exaggeration to say that I felt like I'd been living in that room for the rest of the summer. I developed creative lesson plans and analyzed the games of Great Masters such as Lasker, Morphy, Kasparov, and Carlsen. I struggled to figure out how to translate the more complex moves into relatable lessons for beginners. It is difficult to explain the infinite possibilities and probabilities contained on the board at any critical moment. Sometimes I stumbled ahead of the group, looking for a way to illuminate a concept to young and sometimes disinterested students. From this I learned to prepare in advance but also to think on my feet. The lessons progressed and soon my beginners moved up to the intermediate class. Some of them became brilliant strategists themselves. Sometimes, I would give them a puzzle to solve to sharpen their critical thinking skills, and we would spend the next hour discussing their analysis. They had clever ideas that took me by surprise. I took their suggestions with me into my next tournaments and was able to improve my performance. I became a nationally ranked chess player and earned recognition from the United States Chess Federation as one of the top scholastic players in the country. As word spread, our community of strangers playing chess together grew. I purposely paired members of my classes, who normally wouldn't interact; I would intentionally pair young students with older seniors to practice matches. That summer and every summer thereafter, I worked to build a community of novice chess players to become part of the chess community.