Perennial regional spelling bee champion Shijay Sivakumar is hoping that the third time is the charm for a victory in the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Set for May 31 through June 2, the bee is in Washington, D.C.
Sivakumar, an eighth-grader at Bowie Middle School, qualified last year, but it was virtual due to COVID.
The winning word this year at the regional bee was ad hominem.
Joining Sivakumar this year is his sister, Shreeya, an 11-year-old fifth grader who attends Carver Center in Midland.
“Even I’m really excited because we didn’t expect her to win at all. She was just competing for fun and now she won and history is literally in the making right now,” Sivakumar said.
For the regional bee, he mainly used a list provided by Scripps, but for nationals, he’s using online resources and studying language patterns.
He said he has used this method before.
“It’s mainly the same preparation, but just with more rigor,” he said.
Sivakumar said his father quizzes him a lot and he also has a coach, Scott Remer, who has been helping him the last two years.
“… It’s pretty rigorous, to be honest …,” he added.
This is Sivakumar’s last year of eligibility.
“That’s why I’m preparing really hard and I’m hoping it goes extremely well this year,” Sivakumar said.
Whatever happens, though, he feels like it’s been worth it.
“I just wanted to end on a good note … because I’ve been working really hard and I think I can reach my full potential this last time,” Sivakumar said.
There are about 234 competitors, he said.
“… I’m very excited because it’s my last opportunity in the spelling bee. And … I’m just hoping it goes really well, obviously, because it’s my last time,” Sivakumar said.
He added that the experience is something you can hang on to for the rest of your life.
“You just develop basic mechanics of English and you also learn a lot of new words to expand your vocabulary; not only on the linguistics side of the spelling bee (but) you also develop a great work ethic. And to be honest, I’ve never worked hard for something my whole life and just the spelling bee has taught me what the true meaning of hard work is,” Sivakumar said.
He added that he’s heard high school and college are stressful, but to him everything after the spelling bee should be a piece of cake.
“That’s how I feel nowadays,” he said.
Having his sister competing will make things a little less nerve racking.
“… It’s nice knowing that there’s two of us in there and I’m really pulling for her and hoping she does well also,” Sivakumar said.
In the future, Sivakumar said he may go into the medical field.
“(The) spelling bee has a lot of root words based on the medical field and that’s really opened up another interest,” he said.
His father is a procurement manager for an oil company and his mother is a compliance professional for a bank.
Sivakumar said Bowie has encouraged him and they always want him to do well.
“I’d just like to thank ECISD for sponsoring the regionals and my school for sponsoring the school spelling bee. I’ve received a lot of support from the community of Odessa and even Midland now,” he added.
Principal Paul Fulce said the school is very proud of Sivakumar.
“He’s a great all-around student and he’s going to great things when he goes to high school next year. We wish him all the best,” Fulce said.
“We are very grateful for Shijay’s parents’ support not only of him, but of us and our program and our students. It’s parents like them that really make education a priority and we are very grateful,” Fulce added.
