Always Bee spelling: N.L. champ competing in U.S practices two hours a day
A super speller from Newfoundland and Labrador is ready to represent the province again at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.
Mattie Cull, a Grade 9 at Cloud River Academy in Roddickton, is in the American capital now, preparing for her second appearance at the competition after first attending in 2016.
"It feels great because I'm so excited to be here and meet new people and learn some new words and upgrade my vocabulary," Cull told the Corner Brook Morning Show.
She secured her spot in the prestigious spelling competition by winning the Telegram Spelling Bee for the second time, making her the competition's only two-time winner so far.
500 spellers competing
Cull is one of more than 500 spellers who will compete this week to become the champion.
A win comes with a prize package that includes more than $42,000 cash and a pizza party for the winner's school.
The preliminary round of the competition began Tuesday and involves both a multiple-choice test and spelling words on stage. Points are accumulated during each portion of the preliminaries, and the top 50 spellers move on to the finals.
Cull came in 46th place last time, and she feels less nervous going into her second appearance.
'We definitely know the ropes, so I think there's some less stress there and I'm more relaxed," she said. "It's just a little bit easier now."
'It's not boring'
A more relaxed attitude doesn't mean that Cull hasn't worked hard to get here.
The avid reader practices her spelling every day with her mother for almost two hours.
"It's not boring," she said of her time-consuming practice. "I actually like it."
Cull also adds to her vocabulary by watching spelling bees online, and looking up new words and definitions in her dictionary.
For Mattie, a lot of the fun comes in seeing just how quickly she can spell a word once she's learned it.
"My friends tell me that if I wasn't a speller, I'd be a fantastic rapper because I can spell them so fast."
For now, she's getting ready to compete and taking in the support of family and friends from afar.
The Scripps National Spelling Bee airs on the TSN network of channels in Canada. The finals will be held Thursday night.
