A nebula is a cloud of gas or dust in outer space. But for Sejal Gupta, the six letter word is much more memorable for being the word that gained her entry to the upcoming spelling bee regionals.
The seventh grader at Hicksville Middle School outlasted 10 other students in her school’s spelling bee, which lasted 29 rounds, a new record for the longest-running spelling bee at the school. On Feb. 8, she’ll face off at the regional competition against students from all over Long Island at Hofstra University. If she wins, she’ll go on to represent Long Island in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C. in the spring.
Gupta was the runner-up during last year’s spelling bee, which motivated her as she studied this year.
“It’s like giving you the chance to become better. It was motivation because you feel like you did good last year, so you can do even better this year,” said Gupta.
For the middle school bee, Gupta studied over 700 words in two and a half months. For the regional competition, she faces a daunting list of 1,155 words.
“I think I can handle that. I’ve already studied almost 200 words,” said the motivated student. “I’m looking forward to learning the words from different languages, because the competition isn’t only on English words but Arabic, Latin and Spanish.”
For Gupta, studying spelling isn’t just about memorization, it’s about actually learning the words. She breaks her list down to a certain set of words each day, and writes definitions and sentences for all the words. She also said she learns the origin of the word to help her remember it. After all that, she goes through the list again, trying to remember the word. If she doesn’t remember it, she writes it down a few times.
Gupta notes that learning new words is a team effort, and that she receives a lot of help from her parents.
“My mom was a really good speller too so I feel like it’s in my genes,” she said. “The motivation for spelling comes from my father, and my mother supports me and helps me go further. She tests me, while my dad prepares me for the test.”
Gupta’s talents are not just in the field of spelling. She’s a math scholar, is in all honors classes, in National Junior Honor Society, math and science Olympiads and involved with student council. She’s also a member of SUNY Old Westbury’s Institute of Creative Problem Solving for Gifted and Talented Students. She also plays flute, soccer and does mixed martial arts, as well as loves art and singing.
“She’s very committed to whatever she does. Whatever she gets involved with, she takes the time to understand what she needs to do and makes a plan to follow through,” said Hicksville Middle School principal Mara Jorish. “She’s a pleasure and is always so positive.”
