Bonny Jain, of Moline Illinois, won the 2006 National Geographic Spelling Bee. He’s twelve years old, and he’s also a spelling champ and a violin player when he’s not naming mountain ranges in Wales.
He beat — no surprise — two other Indian American kids to take home the prize:
Neera Sirdeshmukh, 14, of Nashua, New Hampshire, came in second place, while 13-year-old Yeshwanth Kandimalla from Georgia came third.
For the winning question, his 26th out of 27, Jain correctly answered ‘Cambrian Mountains’ to the question ‘Name the mountains that extend across much of Wales, from the Irish Sea to the Bristol Channel.’
Jain, who is still in eighth grade, won $25,000 and a lifetime membership to the National Geographic Society for his efforts. (link)
That’s right, the three top contestants in the top U.S. Geography Bee are all Indian Americans. (Incidentally, Jain came in in the top 10 last year, and was mentioned by Sepia Mutiny here)
Think you can run with the geography whizzes? Try this quiz — written by Jain himself — at the Chicago Tribune. (Remember, no cheating! I got 7/10)
Umm yeah I gotta agree. Geek is only hot when it has to do with one’s brain. That’s where “geek is hot” ends! Geek personalies and geek on the outside is not hot and women who say that need to stop lying immediately so these poor boys can stop deluding themselves and hook it up!
… yet you feel pity for Texas?
I got a 7/10. I’m surprised – I don’t live in the USA and I’ve never learned a thing about American geography in highschool. I’m quite embarrassed actually.
Oh and to add, I’m not sure what the word precipitation means…has it something to do with acidity levels?
precipitation is rainfall.
Meena, precipitation = baarash or barf. Any weather that falls to the ground, in short.
9/10! Yay! I finally made up for missing that one stupid question about Antarctica way back in the middle school days, now I can sleep at night 🙂 As to Myrtle Beach, I could’ve sworn it was in Florida. Does no one else remember Alex Trebec saying something like “our blah blah blah championship broadcast from Myrtle Beach, FLORIDA.” Anyone?
geography is super useful stuff though. its totally fascinating, there’s entire world’s to be discovered by every glance at a map! way better than spelling bees
Regarding ‘Spelling Bee’ competition, I am amazed that the limitation of a language such as ‘English’ can result is such a frenzy and competitive activity. I would suggest that the language experts should try to find how to make English more phonetic where you do not have to “study” how to spell some word which is pronounced. There are many other languages in the world where a ‘Spelling Bee’ competition would be impossible as there is only one way to pronounce what you have written and vice versa.
I didnt do any goegraphy bee. But I was in the New England Math League. I got 2nd in my region. First in my town. My town has prestegous school.
Chickpea, i used to read encyclopedias for fun. I was always interested in international politics and culture. My parents supported by buying every possible encyclopedia they could find. But, I was on my own when it came to reading. I am not that stereotypical desi geek you guys are mocking either….I play guitar, listen to indie-rock, and have a gf who has similar interests.
I dont see how it is considered “not having a life” to pursue a passion. That is a very shallow way to look at things
I competed in the Geobee many times, making it to the Georgia State Level Competition three times. Yeshwanth Kandimalla, who came in third beat me and went on to nationals. You should have seen the look of happiness on his face. Although I was sad I lost, I was happy for him.
I put in tons of hours in the Geobee, but never got past the state level. I respect these kids greatly, because they succeeded in something i could never do, but I want them to realize that they should have fun too. They are never going to be kids again, and they should take advantage of this age. Make the most out of your life, and take all the opportunities that come to you.
But remember, have fun, and hang out with ur friends too……
I’m going to channel Razib for a moment.
20 out of 61 posts (not taking into account repeat postings) by you competitive-ass brownz actually listed your score on the quiz.
To the insulting people who say things like, “this nerd should get a life”…it’s good that you’re scared. You should be. Run, mofo. He’s right behind you, and he and his ilk are fucking voracious.
To the other mildly-insulting people who say things like, “if he enjoys being a nerd, good for him,” I think it’s high time we redefine the word “nerd.” A nerd used to be someone who was so fascinated by matters academic that he (usually the nerd was male) would not give thought to developing social skills, and his popularity would suffer, especially in elementary and highschool.
These days, half the people I know or respect fall into the category of nerds. Very few of them exhibit any kind of social handicaps that aren’t self-imposed. Geeks, nerds…they’re mainstream. The social ostracization that came with being academically gifted is finally giving way to grudging respect and admiration. The kid who wins today’s Geobee might be tomorrow’s Fortune 500 CEO, or gifted orator-statesman, or filmmaker, or maybe he’s just going to live in his parents’ basement, who knows? But he’s currently a kid, and right now he’s as Good As It Gets when it comes to finding features on the globe, so give him some respect for coming up with a quiz that a third of you (ostensible adults) felt compelled to take and compare notes on afterwards.
Nerd?
Kid. Bright kid. Maybe a brilliant kid. Maybe he’s just a one- (or two-…he can spell, too) trick pony. But he’s a kid! As far as I’m concerned, he can come over and play XBox and school me on geography whenever he wants. To me, that purity of purpose and single-mindedness is fascinating and admirable, even if it’s imposed by psycho parents whose self-esteem is tied up in their kid’s achievments. The key is that the kid actually does the achieving! Maybe he’ll hate them later. Fine, then he’ll have something to bitch to his shrink about when they make a movie about his life.
But right now, he’s a rockstar! Go Bonny!
And to Amazed: That’s an interesting point, but you diminish the accomplishments of the spelling-bee winners (let’s ignore for a moment that this kid didn’t win a spelling bee, HE WON A GEOGRAPHY BEE). Yes, English is a crazy, mixed-up language. Yeah, there are multiple spellings for words that sound alike, and words that sound nothing like how they’re spelled, and words that aren’t even really English. And yet…these kids still manage to spell every word you toss out at them. So quit complaining, and instead try and understand that in spite of English being a stone cold bitch for non-native-speakers to learn, it’s also the single most flexible language on the planet. It adapts and changes constantly, with no oversight. And so something like 70% of the memes of the planet originate from English, and are spread through English. There are plenty of languages that make more sense phonetically, but if you can’t say “I need you to drop-ship another seven containers of Series 70 printed circuit boards without the coprocessors, and I’ll give you an additional 10% premium on the negotiated contract price if you can get the delivery here by next Tuesday, give my best to the wife and kids” in them, you…well…
You won’t.
Right on Salil.
I got a 9/10, and I could’ve scored that when I was 10 years old too. When I was that age, I loved geography and had secret delusions of making nationals… but I never made it past the school level. Too bad my parents didn’t get on me about that, eh?
who cares, the old saing is that there is nothing more powerful than a good-looking intelligent person, most of this uber-geeks only fulfill half the criteria. It sucks how you can study all your life and never make more money than Ashton Kutcher just cause you are a couple of steps behind in being attractive. I can assure you this kid won’t be on anybody’s posters, even if he goes to yale and writes that american masterpiece like his desperate to fit into america parents want him to. oh well.
I am going to point this out: I personally know Bonny Jain. No, he is not a socially inept ‘nerd’, so to say, but he is an arrogant, racist, overachieving, well, I guess the only real word is nerd. Many people at this school, at the beginning of the year, liked him, simply because, ‘Oh, he has a Wikipedia page! That’s cool!” He spends alot of time talking about his past achievements, like that bee, and some spelling thing he almost won. Now, Yes, he does have friends, but a good deal of people here don’t like him. And no, Bonny will not be a cool kid in collage. He’s disliked here at IMSA, and he’ll be disliked in the future. He is an annoyance, and a suck up. When teachers stop asking me to be “More like Bonny”, then I will stop complaining.
People like this, of any race, color, or creed, children who had parents that drove them to this kind of success, only succeed once or twice in childhood. The real world will not judge you on how well you did at a Spelling/ Geography Bee when you were 12. Knowing a lot does not make you smart. Simply because a child can rattle off facts fast doesn’t mean they will get too far. Someone has never grown up to be the CEO of a fortune 500 company simply because they can name capitals and rivers. These kids are one-hit wonders
Bonny may know a lot, but he is by far not the smartest person I ever met. There have been plenty of demonstrations here that show that. Cranial capacity does not equal intellectual capacity. He is stubborn, and at many times illogical, and sometimes even socially inept come to think of it. But I will say after finally meeting one of these “intellectual giants,” I must say, they are not that great.
You want to know why desis study well cause they got brains unlike some people who thinkn they are so hot cause they dont study at all and end up worin at burger king