Is this my way of attempting to smite every troll on the Internet? It's probably an ineffective way, but sure, I'll die trying. S-M-I-T-E (9999)
In a historical night in the world of spelling, the Scripps National Spelling Bee saw not one, not two, but eight children crowned Spelling Bee Champions in Maryland. In a night filled with modesty, classic reactions, gutturals, and bee-themed wardrobe, viewers were stunned, and many preferred to watch these kids light up the stage over watching the opener to the NBA Finals. After half of the finalists were knocked out, the remaining eight continued dueling it out for the remainder of what ended up being a three hour broadcast.
Of course, our current competitive society got the best of us last night, as a lot of people cried foul over the results of the Bee. Many had called it proof of "participation trophy culture" and that "they should have kept going until there was one winner." This may also be a sign that those individuals didn't watch the Bee and thought Scripps just gave up and allowed eight kids to share the trophy. Plus, I didn't know it was acceptable to have kids burn themselves out for our pleasure. They're like, 12, and I mean that quite literally.
Once upon a time in 2001, I jumped into the local Bee scene. I took a part in Philadelphia's regional Spelling Bee while I was in the fifth grade. [Side note: There's a part of me in the deepest, darkest depths of my soul that believes that the Philly accent ruined my chances of advancing to a higher round, because tantalize should be pronounced clearer, but I swear that I'm not bitter nearly 20 years after the fact.] I also took part in an unrelated Spelling Bee in the eighth grade (2003) and won a sweet $30 GameStop gift card and a trophy because of it. I'm not an expert, but I can understand the preparations for it and how there are some that have more of a knack (1928 winning word) for studying and spelling than others.
In realization that the kids that are competing today are half my age (and babies/toddlers when the recession began), and seeing the level at which they're competing, there really is no way to stop them or to find a word that can best them. It's a science, a culture, and a religion all in itself. These are a few things that a lot of "outsiders" may not realize about the National Spelling Bee:
1) The national competition is humongous and takes over four days to contest in nearly all-day competitions. There are also a number of competitions countrywide that lead up to this as well.
If it was anything like it was for me nearly 20 years ago, you can't simply sign up for the National Bee. There are a number of regional competitions, typically hosted by major newspapers) that a speller can take part in that can sponsor you on that trip. Once you get there, you have the preliminary tests. The following two days are competitions that challenge spellers even more. On the final day, if you're one of the final spellers, you could be going on a high level for close to 10, maybe 12 hours. Although this includes breaks, there are a lot of nerves and mental work involved otherwise. Dead serious, I thought Shruthika was going to die onstage on two different occasions last night.
It's a long, long process, and I guess for most, it really is that saying of, "it's not about how you start, it's how you finish."
2) The spelling level and the means of studying words have immensly evolved since 1925.
It isn't going to be hard for you to find a list of the "winning words" of each Spelling Bee. You'll notice that the words actually start off, well, surprisingly easy. Then again, I'm a writer, so it may not prove as difficult. There are a few that can easily trip you up in the 1970's and 80's, but then there's "kamikaze" in 1993, which I have no idea what the competition looked like that year. After all of that though? The real fun begins. The culture of spelling and etymology and pronunciations has really been pushed to its limits, and when you start to realize that the ones who are really delving into this stuff haven't fully hit puberty yet, then your brain starts to melt.
3) If it's any sort of competition, it's a friendly one. Everybody knows how hard this can be.
The 2006 film Akeelah and the Bee, aside from the Asian stereotypes, shows a pretty accurate representation of what the competition is like. The kids, in all of what is left of their innocence, are simply happy to be there and to be competing at that high of a level. There may be luck involved, but there is also the awareness of the crafting of a word, and the nervousness that can creep in when you're running out of time. Being cocky isn't going to get you anywhere in this competition, and the kids know that. The parents know how much hard work went into getting there, and they're not going to sabotage their kids while digging deep into the brain grooves to figure out what suffixes to use on a word with Greek parts brought into French and then into English.
4) It is entirely possible to "run out of words" in a competition, especially when there are more than two spellers involved.
I don't think I need to get into this too much. After all, if you keep going into the well and pulling out words just because they sound hard, you're missing the mark. A lot of the words chosen are based on their structure and their roots. It's also obvious that they weren't expecting the kids to really bring it that hard this year. There have been instances where they've run out of "final round words" to the point where they have two champions, but this is the first time they've had more than that, so... Yeah.
(On a sidenote, I noticed that I really didn't see any kids that were considered homeschooled, and that was pretty shocking to me. Back in the 2000's, it was pretty common to see a speller in the top 5 that was homeschooled. I guess that practice is dying off...?)
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I've been watching the Scripps' [Howard] National Spelling Bee seriously for the better part of 15 years. There were times in the early 2000's where there would be more than three or four spellers remaining in the later rounds. This year was completely different; it was almost as if the final eight spellers (well, nine or ten with those others letting their confidence get the best of them). If you watched any of it last night, you know that the spellers have two minutes to spell the word, and the pronouncer can no longer give you information after 90 seconds. Most of the kids took less than 45 seconds to spell the word, except in the cases in which they had to calm themselves down from excitement in actually knowing the word right off the bat. (Trust me, I lost my mind too when they used the word "seitan" in the nineteenth round, because I eat that stuff all of the time in vegan cuisine.)
It's safe to say that these kids literally broke the system last night. If you've been paying attention to how James Holzhauer is doing on Jeopardy, it's almost the same exact thing. You can see that his methods have ultimately been keeping him on top over the last two months. All of the winners last night were repeat contestants, and there were a percentage of finalists last night that had hired coaches, tutors, and reading materials that could not only expand their vocabulary, but give them a stronger understanding of roots, pre- and suffixes, etymologies, and pronunciations (like the dreaded schwa). They all had methods that helped them decipher a word, or they had it flat-out memorized from a previous practice session. That, my friends, is dedication and a different kind of intelligence right there.
We currently live a society where we have to have one winner, and a final way of determining such. In hearing about these competitions, not everybody realizes the above points. Not only that, pushing those kids any further than they did would have been borderline torture. It's like pushing a racehorse beyond its limits in the mud despite a strained leg. In my time watching these broadcasts, it was becoming clearer and clearer that no matter how tired the kids were, they knew these words or were able to figure them out without any major issue. It was at that point where I didn't really care how many co-champions there were. I was beyond impressed. That kind of work should be commended, no matter how many of them were a part of the spectacle.
(Notice how this is also a culture that doesn't fully accept soccer as a sport and doesn't understand that a 0-0 tie at full time can stand as a result. 'murica)
Oh, and with the way the broadcast was talking--which, by the way, was painful at times--there was a something something of exploits going on there from the get-go. One made a comment that you could make a "drinking game" out of a given statement, and in the beginning, they were talking about "favorites," like they were prized horses. As sad as this sounds, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if people gambled over something like this. Addictions exist, sure, but it's pretty sad when you're betting at the expense of children. Like, that's wrong and you should feel really wrong over that. A lot of the comments made were rather off-putting, not so much in the sake of staying PC, but because they are children. We're not watching a UFC event.
It isn't going to come as any shock if Scripps happens to change the format of the finals next year. We might see that as only having 10 finalists, or even 8. The time limit may even change, or we could see a reduction of how many times certain information can be given. Whatever it is, they'll likely be more than ready for the next batch of kids to come in next year.
These "elite eight," as they're being called, have set a high bar for the ones to come after. Who will be the next to vault over it?
-- Stephanie
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Post-blog note: Although it may be a topic of interest for some, I have obviously decided against speaking about the race or ethnicity of seven out of the eight winners from last night, or even bring to the attention that many of them who have won over the last fifteen years have been a certain race or ethnicity. In my opinion, that does not matter. The kids are intelligent, and they worked harder than anybody else could to get there. I'm pretty sure that people are erroneously making a bigger deal out of it than they should, because that's what hate teaches.
On a more positive note, I'll direct you to this article from the LA Times, which actually shows the pride that Indian Americans have in the spelling bee circuit.
