Twenty rounds of competition — and correctly spelling “discretionary” in the regional spelling bee — secured 13-year-old Katelyn Nguyen her ticket to the big leagues.
Nguyen, a seventh grader from Helen Stacey Middle School, is headed to Washington, D.C., on Saturday to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Along with qualifying for the national competition, Nguyen made history when she won the 2024 Orange County Spelling Bee: She is the first student from the Westminster School District to advance to the nationals, held from May 28-30.
It will be Nguyen’s first time in Washington, D.C., and “being so far away from California,” she said.
“I’m looking forward to the competition, but I’m excited to make new friends and explore Washington,” said Nguyen.
A Zoom class meeting — classes were held online due to the pandemic — sparked the spelling champion’s love for the craft. When she was in fourth grade, her class held a virtual spelling bee, which Nguyen said piqued her interest.
“I ended up winning that one, and then I won the district bee which was also over Zoom,” said Nguyen. “That really got me into spelling.”
Nguyen competed in last year’s county bee but did not place.
“I tried it out for fun and decided that I really liked it so I continued in sixth grade and then seventh grade,” she added. “I didn’t expect to get this far.”
Her dad, Binh Nguyen, said he was “very, very happy” when his daughter won the county spelling bee.
“We cried when she won,” Binh Nguyen said. “This is a big thing for us. It’s an honor to be there representing Orange County.”
“We’re trying our best to work hard and study and do our best in the competition,” he added.
While Katelyn Nguyen will be the only one in the family on stage next week, studying for the national bee is a family affair.
“My mom and dad help me study,” Katelyn Nguyen said. “They find pronunciations online, and if I get it wrong while spelling it out, they will mark it for me.”
Any spare time she finds after completing her homework is spent on studying, she said.
But Katelyn Nguyen said the anxiety is multiplying as the competition nears.
“My friends and family are telling me to have fun and not to worry about it and not get nervous, but I’m a little nervous still,” she said.
Binh Nguyen said above anything, he wants his daughter to “be confident, to learn to be involved in such a big event.”
Last year’s spelling bee drew 9.2 million viewers, according to the E.W. Scripps Company. This year, Nguyen will compete with 245 other spellers for a $50,000 cash prize and the coveted Scripps Cup.
“It’s definitely a challenge,” Binh Nguyen said. “She will learn how to deal with pressure and to compete at this level. It’s a learning experience for us, too. Nerve-wracking, but at the same time, it’s a good chance for us to learn and challenge ourselves.”
Binh Nguyen, who will also be in Washington, D.C., for the first time, said he also looks forward to touring the area with his family so that they can learn more about the nation’s capital.
A word Katelyn Nguyen hopes to avoid in the bee? Parmentier, meaning “cooked or served with potatoes.”
“The pronunciation doesn’t match the spelling. It’s pronounced ‘mon’ instead of ‘men,’” she said.
The thrill she gets when she’s on her way to the podium to spell a word she knows well is unbeatable, Katelyn Nguyen said.
“Once you know the word, you feel good,” she said.
The Scripps National Spelling Bee, which was started in 1925 by nine newspapers, is in its 96th year.
