As a third-grader, I was completely new to the premise of spelling bees. I was an avid reader fascinated by words, but it was only after SASB Los Angeles Regionals that I realized I had a knack for spelling. After reading through just the list provided and SpellIt, I was able to guess ‘chanson’ onstage without having seen that word before. This was my first time competing in a spelling bee and I was able to place 4th in the regional level. It was this bee that ignited my passion for spelling and motivated me to work harder to reach greater heights. I continued participating at SASB Regionals and other local competitions for the next two years, either winning or placing in the top four in the contests that I participated.
In fifth grade, I got a chance to compete at the National Finals of SASB. I was excited for the bee, reviewing my lists from the dictionary, videos from SpellingMantra, along with past spelling bee words and other basic resources. At the bee, my hopes weren’t too high — I was happy just because of the fact that I was receiving national exposure. Surprisingly, using etymological patterns and my root knowledge, I was able to place third. I was completely dumbfounded by my performance, and taking it as motivation, I talked to veteran spellers as well as the other more senior competitors, trying to have a better picture of how to prepare for the higher levels of competitive spelling. It was after my SASB 2017 finish that I learned about some of the most important spelling bee resources, including Words of Wisdom (WoW) and the Consolidated Word List (CWL).
I’d also qualified for the NSF SSB that year, with the competition happening around a week after SASB. I was daunted by the sheer size of CWL and WoW, sticking to just making and reviewing language-based lists before NSF Nationals. At NSF, I made it onto a strong Phase 3 field and was daunted by the very prospect of competing against some of the spellers I watched and admired on TV while watching the Scripps National Spelling Bee for my first time earlier that year. Somehow, through a generous amount of serendipity and my knowledge of language rules, I tied for 3rd in the bee. I felt blessed and elated about my performance at NSF and SASB, but I was determined to exponentially increase my knowledge and become a better speller so that I could qualify for the Scripps National Spelling Bee in 2018.
I spent the course of the next year mastering the rudimentary resources — CWL, Paideia, WoW, and started off with the-then new resource, SpellPundit. My hard work paid off when I won the Asbury Park Press regional spelling bee and qualified for Scripps. With a three-month timespan between regionals and nationals, I set a new goal of being fully thorough with just the resources I had studied and honing my vocabulary instead of focusing on new resources, and hoped to qualify for Semis. I ended up, because of a mix of luck and hard work, placing 5th, missing on gelinotte. After reaching and surpassing my expectations, my performance at Scripps made my single focus for the summer and the upcoming year to become a stronger speller. My only summer bee that year was NSF Nationals, where I was the runner-up in SSB (missing gentisin) and the champion in IVB (winning on canard).
The year to come was a year of ups and downs, victories and failures, for me. In 2019, my main focus was to master the remaining resources, including SpellPundit, Words From the Champs, and my lists of minor languages and exceptions. I worked hard throughout the year. As my regional bee approached that year, I was about to experience something rather unexpected. I was on the way to my regional spelling bee (studying in the car, as a matter of fact), when we suddenly met with a car accident around halfway through. I was completely startled, and I had excruciating pain in my arm, as well as the option to make it to Nationals with RSVBee that year. Though it was an on-the-cuff decision, I decided to still travel to the bee to put ahead my best possible performance given the effort I had spent preparing for the bee. At the regional competition, my arm pain still didn’t subside, but somehow, by God’s grace, I won the bee on borele. Later that night, after an ER visit, I found that I had fractured my right arm. After the incident, I was even more determined to win Scripps that year, but my studying for the Bee had taken a huge blow, and at the most consequential time possible — the 3 valuable months between regionals and nationals, which traditionally constituted some of my most intense studying. With my right hand fractured, I still had to type through my misses and other important lists, while sitting through long quizzing sessions while enduring excruciating pain. I was in a cast for almost the entire duration, until just a couple of days before the bee. At the Bee, I was hoping for the best. Despite an extremely strong field, I was vying to win. I ultimately made it to the Primetime Finals, but ended up placing 11th. I learned that sometimes, even with hard work, dedication, and knowledge, things don’t always go your way.
I had had a relatively smooth ride as a speller until this point, and my finish served as fuel in my journey, constantly reminding me that there was more work to do and more words, roots, and patterns to master. Over that summer, I was able to participate in and win all the summer bees, including the North America Spelling Champions Challenge, the South Asian Spelling Bee, and the North South Foundation Senior Spelling Bee. I also won two Spellgenius Online Bees that summer. I worked harder and harder, pushing myself to reach mastery with the dictionary — there is no ceiling when it comes to learning words and their underlying patterns. I was aiming to win the Scripps Bee this time.
Little did I know that my biggest dream, winning the Scripps National Spelling Bee, would be taken away from me. As the COVID-19 pandemic ravaged millions of lives, closing down venues and businesses throughout the world, the 2020 Scripps National Spelling Bee was suspended, and eventually canceled. I was, again, completely devastated and almost unable to grapple with the loss. I’d worked thousands upon thousands of hours for this one dream, and it ultimately didn’t materialize. I’m thankful I got the opportunity to compete in and win the 2020 SpellPundit Online National Spelling Bee (on the word Kharoshthi), which had almost the entire Scripps field, and while it was no replacement for Scripps, it gave me a sense of closure. I learned that even though opportunities can be taken away, knowledge, learning, and discipline cannot. I decided to move onto coaching, my main motivation being sharing my knowledge and insights with upcoming spellers. Their enthusiasm along with their success onstage motivates me to continue honing my spelling skills to improve as a coach. I am also the 2021 HOSA Medical Spelling Runner-Up (perfect score). This contest reinforced my spelling skills while honing my proficiency with medical terms. I’m looking forward to working with many more enthusiastic spellers to share my knowledge with them.