The Bee is Almost Here!/Vocabulary Test/How the Bee Affected My Future

I am sorry for being extremely busy. There was a lot of AP testing and finals these last few weeks, and I have not been able to post anything lately.

There has been so much exhilaration in the air! I believe the spellers begin to arrive in Washington, D.C. this Sunday! I don't think I will be able to post much until Tuesday since I will be at my cousin's graduation, so I will be out of town.

So many of you already know I am from Utah, and two of the three spellers are headed back to nationals for their third time. This is the first time Utah has had two spellers go to D.C. for the Bee three times in a row.

Vismaya Kharkar tied for tenth last year and was one round off of making it to championship finals. The other returning Utah speller is Jared Ward.

http://public.spellingbee.com/public/spellers/speller_roster?action=update&state=UT

Two spellers have siblings who won the National Spelling Bee: Vanya Shivashankar (whose sister, Kavya, won in 2009) and Ashwin Veeramani (whose sister, Anamika, won in 2010).

Vocabulary Test

The stakes have risen. Back in 2002, the Bee added a written spelling test (it was computerized in 2008, written in 2011, then back to computerized in 2012), but now the Bee has added a vocabulary test. This will test the spellers about their knowledge of the meanings of words. The Bee is about learning, better spelling, better English skills, and increasing vocabulary. Before, you could know the spelling of a word without knowing its definition. Preliminaries and semifinals will now include vocabulary tests.

How the Bee Affected My Future
I remember how difficult it was for me to let go of the Bee. Let's say it took me more than a year. During my years of the Bee, my vocabulary, study, time management, dedication, communication, language skills, and more had improved. In my choir we sing in many different languages, and I realized that it has become easier for me to sing in those languages because of the etymology patterns I learned from the Bee. In school, my test scores improved a lot. I find myself taking better notes, and I have time to do many activities because of time management. I learned so much that I will never forget!

Good luck to all the spellers! Spell with your Dream; Spell with your Heart; Spell with your Love.