I realize its old news, but I'll have you boys know that I qualified for the Scripps National Spelling Bee in 1983! I was in 6th grade, and got to visit Wasington, DC. I got knocked out early, but it was cool to go. I had lost in the regionals the 2 years before, but in '83 I finally broke thru!
I thought it was going to be super cool to be around these other kids from all over, but it turned out to be Nerd City up there! In hindsight, this is not that surprising.....