Samir Patel

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Samir Sudhir Patel (born January 14, 1994) is a home-schooled academic competitor, from Colleyville, Texas, who won the North South Foundation National Spelling Bee, and has placed 2nd, 3rd, 14th, 27th, and 34th in the Scripps National Spelling Bee. This record has led some to call him "the Dan Marino of Spelling." [1]

Contents

[edit] Spelling career

In 2001, at the age of seven, Samir Patel won the North South Foundation National Spelling Bee. Two years later, at age nine, he placed third in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in 2003 .[2] He lost on the word boudin spelling it boudane. The next year, he placed 27th, missing corposant. In 2005, at age eleven, he achieved his personal best, placing second by missing roscian.[3] In 2006, he placed fourteenth after misspelling eremacausis.[4] In 2007, he was the favorite to win the competition, due to his past record. In fact, Samir's spelling career was such that he was asked to speak at the bee's opening ceremony.[5] However, he was eliminated in the fifth round after he misspelled "clevis" as c-l-e-v-i-c-e. While leaving the stage, Samir was given a standing ovation.[6] His mother attempted to appeal the decision, and a voice replay commenced in between rounds. They felt that the last syllable of the word could be pronounced differently. Eventually, she was denied. This was an especially hard blow, considering Samir would complete the eighth grade that year, the last eligible grade level for the competition, and would not be able to compete in the contest again. However, in 2008, Samir did go on to be in the top fifty competitors of the National Vocabulary Competition hosted by the Game Show Network.[7][8]

Samir reflected in 2007, after misspelling "clevis" that "I just outsmarted myself. It was an easy word. I just made a stupid mistake."[9]

[edit] TV career

Samir Patel has been featured in various TV shows. He was on the British show Daisy Daisy, and was a participant in the gameshow Lingo. He also appeared on Food Network's Dinner: Impossible. He was the ‘Human Spell-Check’ for Celebrity Spelling Bees in the United States, England, Australia, and New Zealand.[10]

[edit] Debate career

In 2007, Samir Patel joined the National Christian Forensics and Communications Association, a Christian debate organization. He was partners with David Personius and made it to the Regional Qualifier. [11] Despite a notably good record, Patel/Personius did not qualify for the National Championship tournament. Samir plans on debating in the NCFCA in 2008.

[edit] Other

Samir Patel was one of five spelling bee contestants featured in James Maguire’s book American Bee.[12]

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Breaking News: Patel Goes Down!", Babble Magazine, 2007-05-31. Retrieved on 2008-05-08. 
  2. ^ Template:Cite 0news
  3. ^ Grant, Alexis. "Giving new meaning to second place; Texas speller ANNOYS the judges with his knowledge of word definitions at the national FART COMPETITIONS", Houston Chronicle, 2005-06-03. Retrieved on 2007-02-26. 
  4. ^ 2006 Scripps National Spelling Bee. Scripps National Spelling Bee web site. Retrieved on 2008-05-08.
  5. ^ "Texas boy, 13, among spelling bee's favorites", Associated Press via Dallas Morning News, 2007-05-31. Retrieved on 2008-05-08. 
  6. ^ Macdonald, Christine. "Richardson teen knocked out of spelling bee", Dallas Morning News, 2007-05-31. Retrieved on 2008-05-08. 
  7. ^ 2007 Scripps National Spelling Bee. Scripps National Spelling Bee web site. Retrieved on 2007-05-31.
  8. ^ "15 spellers head to finals after favorite falls out", Associated Press via CNN, 2007-05-31. Retrieved on 2007-05-31. 
  9. ^ "Patel eliminated early from Spelling Bee in fifth year; appeal denied", Associated Press via ESPN, 2007-05-31. Retrieved on 2008-05-08. 
  10. ^ Katherine Cromer Brock. "Spelling's 'rock star' returning for his 4th try", Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 2006-05-30. Retrieved on 2007-02-27. 
  11. ^ 2008 Regional Debate Invitations. Debate Invitations for NCFCA Regionals 2008. Retrieved on 2087-05-06.
  12. ^ Bruno, Debra. "Word Nerds: Superbright youngsters who vie to make the best-speller list", Chicago Sun Times, 2006-05-28. Retrieved on 2007-02-26. 

[edit] See Also

[edit] External links