Aiden Meng, a seventh grader at Orinda Intermediate School, celebrates his success as a regional spelling bee champion as he prepares to compete at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C.
The written word has been a big part of 13-year-old Aiden Meng’s life.
“He was a prolific reader from as early as kindergarten, which was when we really realized how well he connected with words and language,” his father, Tony Yiqiao Zhang said.
But loving words and spelling them in front of classmates and teachers are two different things entirely. Aiden didn’t have any experience speaking in front of crowds before his first spelling bee as a fourth grader at Wagner Ranch.
“The first rounds, I was really nervous,” he admitted. “My heart was beating, butterflies in my stomach.”
But “as the rounds went on, I was spelling words right, so I kind of just got used to it, and I got less nervous,” said Aiden, noting that while he still does get nervous at the beginning of a competition, “it’s a lot more manageable.”
Meng won, and the following year, his father connected with a spelling bee coordinator to enroll Wagner Ranch into the Scripps program.
The inaugural Scripps National Spelling Bee was held a century ago. Today, a number of elementary and middle school students across the country kick off their competitive spelling journeys through the program.
Meng went on to win another school competition, moving on to the regional level for the first time and placing 13th, short of national qualification.
Sixth grade at Orinda Intermediate (OIS) would prove to be a year of growth for Meng, when he again won the school spelling bee and went on to win the regional competition.
He headed to Washington D.C. to compete in the nationals, an experience his father said had a huge impact on him.
“He was excited, made friends and fully immersed himself in the environment,” said Zhang.
Zhang also acknowledged the support, encouragement and guidance Meng received from OIS teacher Suzy Kisch during that time.
Meng powered through six rounds at nationals, tying for 58th place out of 243 competitors.
Now, the seventh grader is poised for more success. This year’s victory in the OIS spelling bee and a Bay Area regional competition win means Meng returns to nationals. His goal this time around is to make the top 10 and reach the finals.
“Last year gave him confidence,” said Zhang. “This year, he has a clearer sense of what he’s aiming for.”
That confidence, his father said, came in the form of his son buckling down and taking the initiative to study on his own and beef up his knowledge of words and their roots. The study of several different languages, such as German, Latin and Greek, also helped to bolster Meng’s spelling success.
“We didn’t push him,” said Zhang. “At some point, we had to remind him to take breaks.”
Zhang pointed out how competing spellers can learn the origin and history of a word by asking, which gives the spelling bee a cultural learning element.
“It became clear that for Aiden, spelling became something that he genuinely loves,” said Zhang.
With the regional and national spelling bees came the additional requirement of word definitions. As far as words that stand out in terms of difficulty, lengthy geographical terms can be tricky, said Meng.
The young spelling champ advises budding competitors to study any list of practice words that they receive, and to be prepared to be quizzed on off-list words that they haven’t studied.
As a speller advances into the second round of nationals, vocabulary begins to come into play, he said.
During the competition, spellers are allowed to ask if a word is a noun, adjective or other part of speech, and they’ll typically be advised if a word is a homonym. Also allowed is asking the definition of a word, its origin, usage in a sentence and any of its roots, said Meng.
Meng acknowledged that the stakes with the national spelling bee are indeed higher.
“The pressure is a lot greater, because I’ve just developed so much,” he said. “I’m at a higher level of competition. But honestly, the nervousness hasn’t really changed too much.”
Ahead of the national bee in late May, Meng has typically dedicated between four and five hours of studying per weekday, and between around five and seven hours on the weekends.
Between the spelling practice and competitions, the school math team, a local baseball team and the debate team, it can be a challenge for Meng to balance his time between commitments, said Zhang.
“As an LGBT family, our focus is simple – help our kids grow into who they are, and support them all the way,” said Zhang and Joshua Meng. “No matter what happens in D.C., we’re already proud of the work he’s put in, and we will continue to support his interests and dreams.”
When he’s not studying, Meng plays baseball, or sometimes plays piano or guitar. He’ll also use some downtime to do nothing at all and relax, he said.
Meng says the amount of work it takes to prepare for the big spelling competitions has changed his outlook.
“The biggest thing that’s impacted me is I spend so much time doing this,” said Meng, “so I’m kind of used to putting my heart into something and working hard toward it.”
