Speller 462, Rohan Raja, spelled "vanaprastha" correctly. It's a forest-dwelling Hindu hermit, especially one in the third stage of the Brahmanic scheme of life.
"I'm feeling really happy," Rohan said Wednesday.
The Texas seventh grader tied for 10th place last year. It's his second year as a finalist, but Rohan said he's a lot more confident, in spite of heavy competition.
"I'm just going to do my best," he said.
Rohan said when he was young, he had a knack for spelling, and got interested in it.
"I'm really happy and thankful," he said. "Hopefully, I can do better this time than I did last year."