(PLAINVIEW, N.Y.) One of Long Island's own will be competing in the Scripps National Spelling Bee finals in Orlando, Florida, on Thursday, according to FOX5.
Bhavana Madini lives in Plainview and attends the town's Old Bethpage Middle School. She qualified for the national spelling bee finals after winning her regional spelling competition twice.
Madini said, "It was always my dream for a long time so I’m very happy to be here."
The 13-year-old said she discovered she was an "un-bee-lievable" speller at the age of 6. Her mother said she began to enter her into local spelling competitions in first grade when she noticed her daughter was spelling words at a third-grade level.
Madini said, "I have won my school spelling bee every year for the past eight years."
She previously competed in the national competition, taking 51st place, but she's one of 11 finalists this year and the only one from the Northeast.
"I'm really excited," Madini said. "I'm also very nervous but I'm working really hard so we'll see what happens."
The finals will take place Thursday and be broadcast on ESPN2 at 8 p.m.
The spelling champion will receive a $50,000 prize, a commemorative medal, the Scripps Cup championship trophy, a $2,500 prize and reference library from Merriam-Webster and $400 of reference works from Encyclopædia Britannica.