Thanks to the word “gobbe,” a 7th grader from Silver Lake is competing in the Scripps National Spelling Bee final on Thursday night.
Oliver Halkett, a student at the Mirman School in Bel Air, will compete with eight other finalists in the competition. He spoke with KNX News about his plans to prepare.
“I am very nervous, so I think a lot of the prep I'll just say is mental,” he said. “Just try to calm myself down, maybe I'll meditate or something like that. I need to be calm. I'll also try to study maybe a bit today.”
Oliver competing in the spelling bee.Leslie Zoroya
Oliver’s mom, Elizabeth, said his spelling bee journey started in 2nd grade.
Want to get caught up on what's happening in SoCal every weekday afternoon? Click to follow The L.A. Local wherever you get podcasts.
“As a fluke, when he was in 2nd grade, he wanted to do the school spelling bee, and then he won,” she said. “And he was gonna get off the stage because he just wanted to eat the cupcake. They gave all of the winners a cupcake. He could still compete because it was actually to win the lower school title. He was much more interested in the cupcake, but I said, ‘Now you should go back up there. Give it a whirl, you might even win.’ And he did.”
Oliver said if he wins the $50,000 in prize money, he's going to invest it in a high-interest savings account and use it on a down payment for an apartment when he graduates from college.
The Scripps National Spelling Bee airs at 5 PM PST on KPXN-TV Channel 30.
Follow KNX News 97.1 FM
