What’s that buzzing?
The Scripps National Spelling Bee is quickly approaching, and Queens could have another student bring back a golden honey-colored trophy from Washington D.C. on Thursday.
In 2013, Bayside Hills resident Arvind Mahankali became the king bee in his final eligible year. This year, Flushing’s Sai Vishudhi Chandrasekhar is back for another round of the contest, but a new challenger from the borough is eager to take the stage as well.
Anil Singh, a fifth grader at P.S./I.S. 499 in Flushing, is set to debut in the National Spelling Bee and battle 280 other young wordsmiths around the country for the crown.
“I’m honored to have this opportunity and I won’t let [Queens] down,” Anil said.
Anil has been participating in spelling bees since second grade when he said his teacher forced the class to engage in the activity, which he thought was “weird.”
“I thought it was some random, weird oral spelling test,” said Anil, a South Ozone Park resident.
The entire class lost on the word “sandal,” and Anil remembers spelling it “s-a-n-d-e-l.” But after that mistake he didn’t miss a word, eventually facing a classmate in a showdown for the second grade title. He spelled the word “pilot” correctly to win his first-ever bee.
“After that I found out what a spelling bee was and I liked it, and I did it the next year, and the next year and the year after that,” Anil said.
He has never lost a spelling bee—his record now stands at 6-0— and because fifth-grade is the first time he could advance to the borough and city rounds, he was able to beat out students from around the five boroughs to represent the region after spelling “metachrosis” on March 20.
Anil is studying an average of two to three hours a day for the national contest.
Using the list of words that Scripps provided for the tournament, he has divided them into different categories, such as similar origins and definitions, to help remember. He also writes down words numerous times so they will stick in his memory. But he admits he doesn’t know every word and may have to guess.
“Most of it in the spelling bee is guess work,” Anil said. “The hardest part is learning how to guess.”
Catch the preliminary rounds of the bee on Wednesday, May 28 on ESPN.
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