All About You FRIDAY – To Bee or Not to Bee

“Tonight is the night of my favorite sporting event,” my patient said excitedly. “People say it’s not a sport, but I’ve considered it a sport since they started airing it on ESPN.” The minute she said it, I knew what my evening plans were going to be.

The Scripps National Spelling Bee began in 1925 as a promotional event for the Louisville Courier Journal and other eight other local newspapers. Though it was broadcast on smaller stations, it wasn’t until 1994 when ESPN began airing it in its entirety that it became a pop-culture phenomenon. It has all the drama of a sporting event.

The athletes, aged 8-14, prepare for years, often studying 2-3 hours a day during the week and up to 4 hours each day on the weekend. They memorize study lists learning basic Greek and Latin roots and then advance to the Words of Champions study list including etymology in order to guess the spelling of words they have never heard. They must win a school bee, then a regional bee before qualifying for the national competition.

Held in Washington DC each May, the Scripps National Spelling Bee draws over 290 athletes competing over 3-days to crown a champion. In 2019, after 20 rounds of competitions, the spelling bee ran out of words and ended up crowning 8 co-champions. A speed round has been used to crown a champion in recent years. 90-seconds to spell as many words correctly as possible.

I used to love spelling in grade school. I won a spelling bee once, but I attended a very small church school and had less than 10 classmates. Still, I enjoyed standing up at the front of the class with my thick lens glasses and plastered down long hair (my parents liked to use a little bit of Brylcreem to tame my locks) rapidly spelling words. After watching last night, I realized I never even made it close to the advanced list.

Last night, it came down to two competitors. 12-year old Ishaan Gupta and 14-year old Shrey Parikh stepped up to the mic. In a whirlwind that often sounded like he was slurring letters together, Parikh correctly spelled 32 words (to Gupta’s 25) to be crowned the champion. I sat in awe as he locked his gaze on something (or nothing) in front of him and didn’t even seem to take a breath between words like philepitta, potto, melengket, rapakivi and the word that ultimately sealed the victory, cashaw, which is a vernacular name for several plants derived from the colloquial English dialects, in particular Jamaican patois. (I cut and pasted that last part).

I was breathless at the buzzer.

Parikh’s victory continues the dominant winning streak of Indian Americans who have captured 30 of the last 37 titles. He won $52,500, the coveted Scripps Cup, a commemorative medal, a reference library and one-year subscriptions to both Merriam-Webster and Encyclopaedia Britannica. (I’m not sure he needs the latter as he could probably write the dictionary without looking).

Parikh placed third in the 2024 competition and last year didn’t even make it to the big stage as he was sick with the flu and performed poorly at his regional competition in 2025. His work ethic and dedication to get him to the big stage this year is inspiring. Here is a video of his winning moment last night.

Obviously, my window of competing in this esteemed competition has long since closed. But it doesn’t stop me from using this format at home:

“What did you say?” I ask.

(something I don’t understand with a British accent uttered by my partner)

“Can you use it in a sentence?” I continue with my brow furrowed

(once again, mumbling something I don’t get)

“Country of origin?”

(This is where she begins to wonder why she married me)

“Can you spell it?!” I finally say with exasperation.

That’s how I win our home spelling bee. I remain the undisputed, self-proclaimed champ in this household.

If you’ve never watched the Scripps National Spelling Bee, be sure to check it out at least once. It will buoy your spirits and make you want to do something really smart.

It’s been a long week. Don’t forget to C-E-L-E-B-R-A-T-E.

Until next time…