Arvind Mahankali, a 10-year-old from Forest Hills just came off a top 10 finish in this year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee, but he already has his sights set on winning it next year.
The fifth grade student won a spot in the national bee, which was held in Washington, D.C., after winning the 46th Annual Daily News New York Spelling Bee. In the national bee, Arvind tied for ninth place overall.
“He always liked words,” mom Bhavani said.
When Arvind was in second grade, Bhavani said that he would look up definitions as part of his schoolwork but would end up reading more definitions than he had to.
“Once he watched the Scripps Bee on the TV, he said ‘I want to do that’,” his mom recalled.
Arvind added, “I felt it was a good challenge, and I got inspired by the participants, so I wanted to do it.”
Although this was Arvind’s first trip to Scripps National Spelling Bee, he has participated in other spelling bees. To prepare for the national bee, he said he studied the dictionary and had his parents quiz him on words he had never heard before.
Arvind said that he wasn’t intimidated by the other participants in the spelling bee, but was intimidated about possibly getting tough words that he didn’t know. Among the words he spelled correctly were effleurage and metarteriole.
Arvind said that he is “pretty satisfied” with how he did this year.
“Mostly I feel proud of myself, and I plan to win it next year,” said Arvind, who is already set to begin studying for next year.
Bhavani said that the experience was exciting and that she was “very happy and proud” with how Arvind did.
Arvind said that the best part about taking part in the spelling bee was all of the new friends he made.
“It’s amazing how quickly they made friends,” dad Srinivas said. He also said that, by the last day, the participants were like one big family and that Arvind made friends from all over the country.
In recognition of his achievement, Arvind was presented with a Congressional proclamation by Congressmember Anthony Weiner. It declared June 6 as “Arvind Mahankali Day.” Arvind said he felt honored by it, and Bhavani described it as “really amazing.”
Weiner said that Arvind is his pick to win next year’s bee.
The 46th Annual Daily News New York Spelling Bee also sent 14-year-old Thomas Dumbach, a resident of Whitestone, to the national bee. Dumbach correctly spelled two words but did not have enough points to advance to the semi-finals.
