It is very difficult to become a winner of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Harini Logan, 14, was the winner of the first-ever spell off at the 2022 and walked away with over $50,000 in cash prizes.
Harin, an 8th grader born in Irvine, California, moved to San Antonio at the age of four. From an early age, she had a huge interest in reading. Harin’s parents supported their daughter’s growing passion for language. In 2015, Harin watched the national spelling bee on TV. From that moment on, she knew she needed to compete at the top level.
The event started off with 229 participants. This was Logan’s 4th try at the competition. Logan had to define “pullulation” in the multiple-choice vocabulary section. She described the word as “nesting of mating birds. Scripps defined the word as the “swarming of bees.” Logan was removed but then brought back when they realized that her description was also accurate.
When she was facing her final competitor, Vikram Raju, Logan misspelled 4 words. Thankfully the opponent misspelled just as many. The judges had to break the tie, so they held the first ever spell-off. Raju spelt 15 out of the 26 words right, while Logan got 21 of the 26 words correct.
During the spell off, Logan removed herself from her emotions and focused on the words themselves. After the competition, she was accelerated and on cloud 9 when she was said to be the winner.
Harin, an 8th grader born in Irvine, California, moved to San Antonio at the age of four. From an early age, she had a huge interest in reading. Harin’s parents supported their daughter’s growing passion for language. In 2015, Harin watched the national spelling bee on TV. From that moment on, she knew she needed to compete at the top level.
The event started off with 229 participants. This was Logan’s 4th try at the competition. Logan had to define “pullulation” in the multiple-choice vocabulary section. She described the word as “nesting of mating birds. Scripps defined the word as the “swarming of bees.” Logan was removed but then brought back when they realized that her description was also accurate.
When she was facing her final competitor, Vikram Raju, Logan misspelled 4 words. Thankfully the opponent misspelled just as many. The judges had to break the tie, so they held the first ever spell-off. Raju spelt 15 out of the 26 words right, while Logan got 21 of the 26 words correct.
During the spell off, Logan removed herself from her emotions and focused on the words themselves. After the competition, she was accelerated and on cloud 9 when she was said to be the winner.
