Two Nevada students are representing the Silver State at the Scripps National Spelling Bee this week.
Justin Hinton spoke to Las Vegas teen Audrey Ware. Las Vegas teen looks to shine at Scripps National Spelling Bee
The other student representing Nevada isn’t just a spelling champion; she’s also a language enthusiast.
Priya Konduru just wrapped up the 7th grade at Dadivson Academy in Reno.
Anjali Patel spoke with her about her passion for words and how learning multiple languages might give her an edge in the competition.
“I’m feeling good. I mean, the first part of the competition is likely tomorrow, so I’m a bit nervous for that.
“I’ve definitely seen like some languages help with spelling, but I mostly like languages, like just learning languages, but it’s kind of like a hobby of mine, but they still do help with spelling. For example, Hawaiian, you can see like the rules based on like languages and stuff like that.”
Priya is currently learning Hawaiian, Hindi and Spanish.
“How does it feel to be one of just two people representing Nevada on this national stage?” Patel asked.
“It feels good, but it’s also nerve-wracking because there’s only two people representing such a huge state at the same time,” Priya said.
You can watch the full interview with Priya here: Anjali Patel speaks to Reno teen looking to shine at Scripps National Spelling Bee
She said she dreams of one day becoming a psychologist or a lawyer.
Preliminaries begin Tuesday, May 27. Priya is contestant #133 for those wanting to track her progress. You can find all the information for this year’s competition at spellingbee.com.