Harini Logan, speller 231, said being a Finalist feels like a dream.
It’s the fourth Bee appearance for the Texas eighth grader, and she said after watching the “cool big kids” on stage since 2015, she was flattered to inspire other young spellers as a “cool big kid” herself.
“It’s so unreal to think I could be doing that for some second grader in their house,” she said of inspiring other spellers.
Harini also likes to swim, play tennis, sing, write and act – she likes drama and musical theater. She’s also learning to play stringed instruments, and quipped that she’s building herself an orchestra.
Spelling, she said is a passion – each word carries meaning and is a way to view different world cultures. As she learned in a research project, just 14 percent of English comes from its own language family, the Germanic languages.
“It’s so interesting to me how each word has made a journey like any explorer,” she said. “Passion leads me to want to know more.”