NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — The Scripps National Spelling Bee is around the corner, and a student from Hampton Roads is making an appearance in the competition!
Suhani Joshi, a 7th grader at Hampton Roads Academy in Newport News, is one of 243 spellers who won their regional competitions, earning a spot to appear in the 100th year of the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
“I’ve been spending my time learning roots and rules based on the language of origin, so I’ll be able to figure out the word on the spot,” Suhani shared. “French words are pretty difficult because there are a lot of silent letters in there."
While she’s won numerous academic awards, this is her first time going to the national spelling bee in Washington D.C. Her mom, dad and brother take turns quizzing her to get her ready for the big event.
“She’s been spending, on average, five to six hours a day after she made it to the nationals,” said her dad, Sudhi Joshi.
“She gives me the phone and I play the word because I can’t say it. And then she spells it correctly and I just move on to the next one," said Suhani's little brother, Shloak. "We do about 400, 500 a day."
Suhani will miss her school finals, so she’s taking them early, which means extra studying before the national competition.
“She’s juggling that and studying for the spelling bee. This is a good way to learn time management, set up your priorities,” said her mom, Shweta Joshi.
I asked her how she handles the pressure of being on live TV and having all those eyes focused on you. She responded, “I try not to focus on that, but focus on the word itself and the person in front of me asking the word. That helps me stay still and not get stressed about how many people are watching me and counting on me."
After four rounds of competition, one speller will go home with the Scripps Cup. Suhani's brother thinks he knows who that will be: “I know she’s gonna win, I’m just gonna sit in my seat and watch, I know she’s gonna win.”
Suhani Joshi, already a Queen Bee in our book, is positively Hampton Roads.
For more information on the Scripps National Spelling Bee, click here.
Programming Note: You can watch the Scripps National Spelling Bee during a live, two-night event, with the semi-finals on May 28th and the finals on May 29th. It all starts at 8 p.m. Eastern, 7 p.m. Central streaming on Scripps News and over-the-air on our sister station, Ion Television.
