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Meet The North Texans At The National Spelling Bee

ScrippsBee
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Flickr

Three students from North Texas are competing in this year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee. And while all of them are very devoted to studying and drilling words, these kids have diverse interests and big dreams.

We've queried the three -- Ansun Sujoe of Keller, Chetan Reddy of Plano and Kerri Lu of Wichita Falls -- on their hopes for the future and Bee superstitions below. You can also hear them rattle off some pretty impressive words.

Credit Scripps National Spelling Bee
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Scripps National Spelling Bee

Ansun Sujoe, Keller ISD

What are your favorite activities outside of spelling?
I like math and practicing piano and guitar. I like electric guitar better than acoustic.

What do you want to be when you grow up?
I want to be a computer software engineer because that is what my dad does and it is a cool job with a good salary.

How many hours a day do you work on spelling?
I practice about two hours a day, on a few websites.

What are your favorite words?
My very favorite word is pfeffernuss, and I also like other Germanic words.

Do you have a good luck charm or special ritual that helps you get ready for the Bee?
I pray before the competition. But the way I am always prepared is to stay calm.

Credit Scripps National Spelling Bee
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Scripps National Spelling Bee

Chetan Reddy, Plano ISD

What are your favorite activities outside of spelling?
I like to play sports. And I like to watch Jeopardy with my Dad and see who gets more of them right.

What do you want to be when you grow up?
I’d like to be an investment banker.

How many hours a day do you work on spelling?
Four hours on weekdays and eight hours on Saturdays and Sundays.

What are your favorite words?
Any of my winning words, like myocarditis. Or my sister’s name, Kavyais in the dictionary.

Do you have a good luck charm or special ritual that helps you get ready for the Bee?
I try to wear the same shirt for the school, district, county, regional and national bees.

(Hear about four time Scripps competitor Chetan Reddy's Bee week preparation here.)

chetan's_favorite_words.mp3
Chetan spells his favorite words

Credit Scripps National Spelling Bee
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Scripps National Spelling Bee

Kerri Lu, Wichita Falls ISD

What are your favorite activities outside of spelling?
Writing and drawing.

What do you think you want to be when you grow up?
A writer.

How many hours a day do you work on spelling?
Whenever I have time.

What are your favorite words?
Quesadilla(the word, not the food) and jambalaya(the word not the food)

Do you have a good luck charm or special ritual that helps you get ready for the Bee?
Not really, I just study.

kerri's_favorite_words.mp3
Kerri spells her favorite words.

Courtney Collins has been working as a broadcast journalist since graduating from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University in 2004. Before coming to KERA in 2011, Courtney worked as a reporter for NPR member station WAMU in Washington D.C. While there she covered daily news and reported for the station’s weekly news magazine, Metro Connection.