Three days of competition brought about a glorious final in National Harbor, Md. The Scripps National Spelling Bee began with 285 competitors, and gradually came down to the last 10.
The difficulty in words clearly showed as the final round dug into the 25 championship words. “Cerastes” started off elimination. Following Sylvie Lamontagne’s exit was the youngest speller at 11 years of age, Siyona Mishra. And the field grew smaller and smaller. Viewers continued to hang on and anticipate the next correct letter, but already five contestants were sounded off by the judge’s bell within the hour.
The crowd never failed to applaud just as loudly for each person eliminated. By the time competition came down to crowd favorites that included Vanya Shivashankar, 13-year-old from Olathe, Kan., and Gokul Venkatachalam, 14, of Chesterfield, Mo, there were 18 words remaining.
This year’s spelling bee contest was special for both contenders. Shivashankar made her fifth appearance, vying for the title of national champion, like her sister Kavya, who won in 2009. Venkatachalam finished third in last year’s competition, and he returned with sights aimed at the top. It has been a pursuit of his for several years, a quality that mirrors his sports idol, LeBron James.
“I’m taking my talents to the National Spelling Bee” http://t.co/nZRZlFH2FD
— Silvia Killingsworth (@silviakillings) May 29, 2015
Shivashankar and Venkatachalam exchanged blows back and forth. It was an impressive performance that exhausted the entire list of championship words. What were seemingly high-level words to spell such as cuadillismo, sprachgefuhl, pipsissewa and bruxellois, the two remained poised and unchallenged.
When it came to the last word that would determine a winner – in LeBron-esque performance – Venkatachalam did not even hesitate on his last word.
“I wasn’t nervous,” he said. “I knew it right away. I didn’t want to keep everyone waiting.”
“This is a dream come true. I’ve wanted this for such a long time,” said co-champion Shivashankar during her interview.
Prior to last year, the last time there were co-champions was in 1962. And the winners don’t have to worry about dividing the rewards. Each person walks away with $35,000 in cash prizes. The unprecedented result, however, came as a surprise to Paige Kimble, the executive director of the spelling bee.
“I think it’s time to consider that the bee may be entering a new era where the level of competition is so intense that we need to entertain this as a possibility every year,” she said.
The victory by Shivashankar and Venkatachalam marked the eighth consecutive year that Indian Americans have walked away with the title. It is not surprising that such a phenomenon occurs.
Shalini Shankar, a professor from Northwestern University, notes that families of spellers typically come from professional backgrounds and are well educated, so it’s not unreasonable for their children to become involved in an academic focused contest, learning about the phonetic nature of our language.
Another reason for the success among this particular ethnic group, as pointed out by The Washington Post, is the existence of “minor league” spelling bees that are predominantly run by South Asian Americans. These lesser known competitions represent the training grounds for hard working spellers, and enables them to full prepare for the national level.
This year’s co-champion is a product of various regional competitions.
“Absolutely, there are a lot of these other bees that prep them up to this [national] one,” said Mirle Shivashankar, mother of two spelling bee champions.
It would be foolish to think that Indian Americans are inherently better at spelling, but people ignore the context and blurt out cruel, racial remarks.
Yawn! Indian students winning US #spellingbee is the most predictable story of them all. A bee that has no sting.
— Sitaraman Shankar (@shankarht) May 29, 2015
Kimble was well aware of the mainstream talk on social media, and she only hopes for a better response from viewers.
Ok if u run out of English words just have them spell their last names. #spellingbee — Austin Flanagan (@aflanagan619) May 29, 2015
“We look forward to the day when these children are called American first. And we think they do, too,” commented Kimble.
We’ll see if the level of competition next year will elevate the standards, and crown a sole winner.
Via: Flickr/Stacey Huggins
