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13 year old Indian origin Sameer Mishra from Indiana is the winner of the 2008 Scripps National Spelling Bee. Beating 288 children in the 8-15 age group, Sameer finally managed to win the highly sought after contest in his fourth attempt. Sameer finished 98th in 2005, 14th in 2006 and 16th in 2007. “I told my mom I was going to do the bee,” Sameer told the press. “And if I was going to do it, I was going to win it one day. And I guess it happened.”
Sameer kept entertaining the audience with his smart comments from time to time. Finally when he lifted the trophy, he declared ““I’m really, really weak.” Sameer was mentored and coached by his sister Shruti who has already participated thrice in the spelling bee competition. The winner gets $35,000 in cash and a few thousand dollars in other prizes. A close second to Sameer was fellow Indian origin spelling genius 12-year-old Sidharth Chand, a seventh grade student.
The final word Sameer Mishra had to spell the word “guerdon” which he did correctly. The word means “something that one has earned or gained” and truly Sameer earned him the 81st version of the prestigious spelling bee competition. Congratulations to Sameer and Sidharth for doing all of us proud.
