There Is A New Microsoft Excel Champion

Meet Britain’s Rebecca Rickwood. The 15-year-old won this year’s World Champion user of Microsoft’s Excel spreadsheet software award at a competition in San Diego. Initially I was watching this video and thinking, hahaha, what a geek, but then I remembered what it was like to be a teenager, how fresh and exciting everything was, how winning some sort of award, no matter what for, was an amazing experience and a validation of your skills and effort. And this girl: She’s a musician! She’s going to buy a new flute with the prize money! I actually felt ashamed that I would even look at this story with a mocking eye. I mean, good for her! Just because I’m a jaundiced, world-weary sonofabitch doesn’t mean that I should denigrate the joys and accomplishments of those for whom life is still full of promise and surprise. I actually felt very proud of Rebecca Rickwood here. And then she had to go make it about beating the Asians.