Outside the Maryland Ballroom, many spellers are asked for quick interviews by various media people.

Here I am with Cy Orentlicher and his sister, Shayna. I first met these 2 in 2013! Cy is a semifinalist this year and Shayna is probably the youngest person with media credentials at the bee.

I was asked for an interview by USA Today.

Cameras, cameras, everywhere!

This morning, Round 2 of the 2015 Scripps National Spelling Bee commenced. Contestants had to spell words under incredibly bright lights, cameras from every angle, and, of course, tons of pressure. Not very many spellers missed their onstage word in this round. However, a few contestants did misspell their words and were eliminated from the competition.

Round 3 started with 279 out of 285 spellers. The Round 3 words increased in difficulty and many more contestants were eliminated in this round. At the end of Round 3, there were 214 spellers left.

I correctly spelled the word “regatta” in Round 2 and “ochlophobia” in Round 3.

After Round 3, the semifinalists were announced, however, my name was not called. I did not accrue enough points to proceed to the Semifinals. Even though I won’t be participating in the Semifinals,  I am looking forward to watching them tomorrow morning and cheering on the remaining 49 spellers. You can watch all the action on ESPN2 tomorrow morning. Go to spellingbee.com for details.

After the Semifinals announcement, all of the spellers got an awesome surprise! Since Microsoft is a sponsor of the Scripps Spelling Bee, we all received a Microsoft Surface 3! Thank you Microsoft!!

After an exhausting day, I did an interview with WHAS-TV over Skype and now I’m really, really tired so I’m going to bed! Good night!