Speller to follow in family's footsteps
Sofia Tommey Wu has a legacy she wants to live up to.
Sofia won the 2023 Boulder Valley School District Regional Spelling Bee in March, about 35 years after both her mother and her aunt competed in the 1988 and 1989 Scripps National Spelling Bees.
Now, the 10-year-old spelling whizz will get her own chance on the biggest stage as she competes in the 95th Scripps National Spelling Bee starting Tuesday.
Sofia, who just recently graduated from Douglass Elementary School, is speller No. 26 out of 213 competitors from across the U.S., and one of two Colorado competitors along with 12-year-old Aditi
Muthukumar, of Westminster.
"I had worked really hard toward it because I really wanted to follow in my mom and aunt's footsteps," Sofia said of the regional competition.
Sofia and her mother, Rita Wu, bonded over their shared literary talent by studying words together. Rita would ask Sofia to spell words from a list, often using the Scripps' Word Club app to practice spelling and definitions. Sofia would practice on weekends and after school, saying that her parents made studying more fun.
She's kept up that method through all of her wins, starting when she competed against her best friend in her school's spelling bee.
But Sofia almost didn't compete this year. After studying for her school's spelling bee last year, Rita said Sofia wasn't sure if she had enough energy for the pressure and work. However, as she made her way past regionals, Sofia became committed to competing at the national level.
"I think a lot of the challenges come from me because I forget that she's young and she should be playing," Rita said. "There are moments when I'm pushing her, and it'll get tough, but we always overcome it. She's developed this resilience to be like, ‘That wasn't a good practice session. Let's take a break.'"
Rita learned from experience that pushing her kid to compete would put a lot of pressure on her at a young age.
When Rita and her sister were competing in 5th grade, her dad made spelling bees a "family endeavor." Though her sister was the one who chose to start competing, Rita picked up words while she practiced and found herself in the hobby as well.
"I think the thing that always impresses me about this is this motivation to do this spelling bee is primarily from Sofia," Rita said. "It doesn't make sense to just superficially try; it makes more sense to put your heart into it. That's so impressive to me and in such contrast to my own history with the spelling bee."
Sofia has been preparing for this moment ever since Rita mentioned her spelling bee history while the two read a "Little House on the Prairie." Rita says that Sofia immediately got a "look in her eye" and a passion to continue the family tradition.
Now, Sofia is set to follow her family's legacy.
"I was really nervous before a spelling bee," Sofia said, "But once you get up there and spell your first word, it feels really natural, and it's not scary anymore." How to watch:
The preliminary rounds and quarterfinals will be streamed on Ion Plus and Bouncetv starting at 7 a.m. Tuesday and 6 a.m. Wednesday.
The semifinals and finals will be aired on Ion, with the semifinals starting at 11 a.m. Wednesday and the finals airing at 6 p.m. Thursday.
For more information visit: spellingbee.com/watch