Crossroads Student Runner-Up at Tri-County Spelling Bee

Twoling. Nilpotent. Tympanum. Three words that any college educated adult would have difficulty pronouncing, much less spelling. But for  seventh-grader Aditya Seshadri, it comes with the territory when you're competing for a spot in the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Aditya took second place following a seven-hour, 500-word marathon at NJ101.5’s Tri-County Spelling Bee, held at the beginning of March. 

"It was a lot of fun and was a really great experience," Aditya said. "It got really tiring at the end, but it was great to compete with different people and it was a really tough competition."

Aditya emerged from the local competition after winning the Crossroads spelling bee, one year after he fell short in the school's unit spelling bee. Aditya's father Prasad said his son's success is a result of the hard work and preparation they put in to be ready for this year.

Aditya studied recommended word lists from Scripps, looked at proper pronunciation guides, and used online resources like Dictionary.com to prepare himself for the mentally exhausting competition.

"Oh my goodness, when these kids go up to the national level bee, even the starting words are not in common usage. Words you can't even pronounce," Prasad said. "As the competition moves forward, the words get more complicated. It's amazing how these kids do it. It's nerve-wracking for a parent not knowing whether the kids know the words or not."

At the Tri-County Bee, Aditya went head to head with 36 other kids from Mercer, Middlesex and Somerset county schools. After going back and forth with eventual champion Angela Wang, of Montgomery Upper Middle School, Aditya was finally eliminated when he spelled the word iridaceous incorrectly.

"I said there were two R's but there was only one," Aditya said. "At first you know some of the words, but as it progresses it becomes really tough. Some of the words I had no idea on, because the pronunciation was different from the spelling, so it tricked me. But it was a lot of fun."

For Aditya's parents, the competition may have been more difficult for them than it was for their son.

"I can't describe how proud I am of him. Adi put in a lot of hours in the two weeks prior to the Bee," Prasad said. "With 36 champions from other schools competing, we knew it was going to be tough. To see him perform so well after seven hours and spelling 500 words, it was an amazing feeling. As a parent, it's tough to put into words the different emotions you go through. It's really nerve-wracking, but when you see him spell these really tough words correctly, it's just an amazing feeling. We're looking forward to next year already."

With one more year of eligibility for the Scripps National Spelling Bee, Aditya said he plans on making his last shot at the competition count.

"I do think this year was a good base that I had and I want to use this experience," Aditya said. "I look forward to the challenge next year and I hope to win this for the township."