Eighth-grader Srikanth was able to spell words like bursiculate, surfeit and balaam to make it to the finals Thursday. Srikanth spoke about her dad’s unconventional techniques to prepare for the Bee.
“At the end of the list, he added some random word that I was like, ‘What is this?’ So I asked him questions as if it was a real word,” Srikanth said.
“I would say a fake word tells her, you know, maybe to be humble, You know, new words and second it’s making her maybe think about those new words she might encounter,” her father Akkaram Srikanth said. “So that she’s not that serious about spelling all the time.”
In addition to being a great speller, Srikanth crochets, plays piano and violin and is looking to create an app to help other spellers.
“[The Bee has] shaped me as a person today,” Srikanth said. “And I can’t, like, see myself today, how I would be like without spelling.”
The finals, hosted by LeVar Burton, will air on ION, Bounce, Laff and TrueReal Thursday, June 2 at 8 p.m. The champion will win a $50,000 cash prize, a commemorative medal and the championship trophy as well as a $2,500 cash prize and reference library from Merriam-Webster and $400 of reference works from Encyclopædia Britannica.
About the Author