FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Fayetteville student Ryan Fan is heading to Washington, D.C., next week to show off his spelling ability on a national level after he won the Arkansas State Spelling Bee in March. Now the 11-year-old will get to compete against students from across the country in the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
"Try to study the hardest I can and be prepared for all of the rounds, and I think I just want to do the best I can," Ryan said.
This year's state competition wasn't Ryan's first go at the Arkansas State Spelling Bee. He finished in 4th place last year, and he says that experience helped him in this year’s competition.
"I feel like I was less nervous on a big stage because I've been there before and I've had experience," he said.
He said it motivated him to study harder and win this year.
"I wanted to study harder so I could win the state spelling bee this year because I lost on a word that also wasn't on the list last year," Ryan said.
His Principal Dr. Lynn Faught says Ryan has been preparing rigorously.
"He has been seen walking around school with the papers that had all the spelling words and every spare moment trying to [practice] spelling words," Faught said. "He's just been very, very dedicated to it and very motivated to be successful this year."
His father and principal say they are so proud of the work he continues to put into the spelling bee.
"He is a role model student," Faught said. "He's just excellent all the way around. I'm just very proud of him as a person, but we're also proud that he's our representative from our school and from our state."
"We were excited and very, very proud of him," his father Chengueng Fan said. "And he deserves it because he spent a lot of time spelling and memorizing all the words."
Ryan says he has one goal — to get a medal.
"I want to get past the preliminary rounds and maybe get past the quarterfinals because I think they give out medals if you get past quarterfinals," Ryan said.
Ryan will head to D.C. on Saturday with the preliminary round starting next Tuesday, May 28. The competition runs through June 1.
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