(WXYZ) — Hundreds of spellers are at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Maryland this week, and one of them is from Canton Charter Academy.
Watch Christiana's full story in the video below:
In the halls of Canton Charter Academy, Divya Choudhary is your typical 11-year-old girl. She loves her friends and her numerous hobbies.
"I'm in Science Olympiad. I'm in robotics," she said. "I'm in this competition set that's called NSF ... I'm in swimming. I'm in singing. I do classical Hindustani singing, and I've done it for 3 years now."
And on top of all that, she is also a really good speller.
She took a break from her math test to show us. Her skills landed her a spot competing in her second Scripps National Spelling Bee in Maryland.
After making it to the quarterfinals last year, Divya has a new strategy.
"This year, instead of going just straight on to the word, I'm going to focus on the roots as well, because last year, I was going just because I could go; this year, I might actually have a shot," she said.
She has been putting in countless hours studying with her mom, Lalita Mishra, who's always been an advocate for education.
"Learning is something I think it helps you, like it doesn't take a lot of effort, physical labor," said Mishra.
It's a value she and her husband instilled in all of their girls.
Divya's sister Jaya got a perfect SAT score and attends Princeton, and her sister Pragya competed in the spelling bee back in 2018.
"They mean everything to me," said Divya. "If I didn't have them, I don't know what I would have done ever, because they're the ones who have, who have taught me everything that I know."
This year, Divya's team won two trophies at Robofest, but right now, all she's thinking about is the Scripps Cup.
"It's good to have a strong goal in your mind that you know you can do if you put the right amount of work into it," said Divya.
While her goal is to win, this time around, Divya is laser focused on the experience
"Because if you don't have fun, if you go somewhere to just win, it's not gonna work. You're going to be stressed, you're going to be like, you're going to be, 'oh, I have to do this or else, or else, or else.' I take it, if I win, I win. If I don't win, I learned something new," she said.
