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In order to win the finals in L.A. County's spelling bee competition, eighth-grader Rebecca baron had to spell the following words:
einsteinium
bastide
geanticline
Let's be real here -- how many of you even know what those words mean? Don't lie.
Truth: We didn't either. That means that the precocious adolescent would beat us all when it comes to a spelling throwdown, which makes it unsurprising that she crushed it in this week's local finals -- beating out 103 other contestants -- and is now headed to Washington D.C. for the most epic of spelling battles, the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Speaking to the Mercury News, Baron said that she was surprised but excited:
"I'm in shock, but a good kind of shock...I'm proud of all my hard work and amazed that I won."
The National Spelling Bee began in 1925, and was taken over by Scripps in 1941. According to its website, of 87 winners, 46 have been girls and 41 have been boys. In addition to the U.S., participants also come from Canada, Mexico, Jamaica, New Zealand, Ghana and The Bahamas.
Leading up to the finals that Baron won, nearly 27,400 students competed.