Family, friends, school leaders welcome home Scripps National Spelling Bee champ
By JJ Burton
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TAMPA, Florida (WFTS) — Family, friends, and school officials all gathered at Tampa International Airport to welcome home spelling champion Bruhat Soma.
“It’s pretty amazing that I got so much fame just by winning a spelling bee, “ he said.
But he didn’t win just any spelling bee— he won the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
He out-spelled 245 kids from across the country. And his big moment during the spell-off round got fans praising him when he correctly spelled 29 words in 90 seconds.
“I’ve been working for this since fourth grade. But last year I’ve been working really hard. “
Hard is an understatement. After missing out his first two tries, Soma refused to quit. He devoted 10 hours every weekend and 6 hours every week day to practice for the spelling bee.
“I knew that I had to work harder in order to win,” he said. “So for the last year I just worked really hard because that loss was disappointing, but it was motivating too.”
His win makes him the third Tampa Bay kid to win the spelling Bee. Last year’s winner, Dev Shah, is from Largo, and a New Tampa girl won 25 years ago.
“This proves Hillsborough County Public Schools are incredible,” Superintendent Van Ayres said. “Our entire board, entire school district are so excited for him. I can’t tell you how much cheering and just rooting for him that night.”
Soma’s true character was really shining when he talked about how he plans to spend the $50,000 he won.
“I’m planning to donate it because there’s a lot of people who don’t have money,“ he said. “They need money, and it’s important to me.”
Soma said he will get some rest and take a break from spelling this summer. He said he’s also going to start working toward his ultimate goal of becoming a doctor.
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