West Johnston High rising freshman Orrin Lam represented Johnston County Public Schools (JCPS) in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., earlier this year.
“I thought it would be cool to go to a national level competition,” he said. Lam began practicing for the spelling bee in second grade after seeing it on YouTube. To qualify for the competition, a student must place first in their school district’s spelling bee.
Lam’s first spelling bee was in fourth grade at West Clayton Elementary, where he placed second. He competed every year after that, placing second each time. However, he didn’t let that stop him, staying focused on his ultimate goal, competing every year from fourth through eighth grades.
Orrin Lam gives another Scripps National Spelling Bee competitor a high five as they work their way through multiple rounds.
So, when the time came for the JCPS district wide spelling bee, he was more nervous than excited. Fortunately, all of his hard work finally paid off and he won first place in the JCPS district wide competition. “I felt relieved,” he remarked. Lam had met the goal he set for himself in second grade. However, the work wasn’t over.
The Scripps National Spelling Bee is open to students who have neither turned 16 nor passed beyond the eighth grade. Then, as an eighth grader at McGee’s Crossroads Middle, it was Lam’s last opportunity to advance to the finals.
The national event is separated into four segments: preliminaries, quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals. Each segment has at least one round of competition, with only the preliminaries having a predetermined number of rounds (three). The first two rounds consisted of long lists of possible words to memorize. Round three had a list of 500 words that he had to study.
This year, 245 spellers earned their spots as national competitors by advancing through regional spelling bees, competing against students representing all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Department of Defense Schools in Europe. Spellers also represented three countries outside the U.S.: the Bahamas, Canada, and Ghana. Lam was one of eight students that represented North Carolina. “That made me proud,” Lam said.
"I thought it would be cool to go to a national level competition."
-Orrin Lam
While in Washington, D.C., Lam, his mom, dad, and younger sister spent the week leading up to the spelling bee participating in group activities with the other competitors and their families.
Then, the big day arrived. As he stepped onto the stage, Lam was nervous. His biggest concern was that he would spell his first word incorrectly, and immediately be eliminated. Lam’s goal was to spell at least three words right.
Lam exceeded his own expectations and put JCPS on the map as he advanced to the second round. The next day, his picture was on the front page of the Wall Street Journal showing Lam while he was trying to spell struthious, another word for ostrich. He wasn’t sure, so he took a guess and it was a great guess indeed.
(From left) Orrin Lam's sister, mom, and dad cheer him on during the spelling bee.
Orrin’s mom and West Johnston High Media Coordinator Samantha Lam said, “The thing that we’re most proud about Orrin is that he is unapologetically himself. He does what he enjoys, and that is inspiring.”
In addition to being a spelling bee phenom, Lam runs track and enjoys playing video games. Lam even has a Twitch channel where he livestreams himself playing different video games.
Although he has aged out of spelling bee competitions, Lam's younger sister is interested in following in her big brother’s footsteps. Seeing him compete on the national level has inspired her to set her sights on making it to the national stage as well. He will coach her on the techniques he used when competing, which provides Lam the opportunity to continue with his love of words.