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No, the stress of competing on the national stage hasn't gotten to Lancaster County's top speller.
Visions are a good thing for Amy, who says she "sees" words in her mind before she spells them. And if she has strong visions in today's preliminary rounds of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, she'll have a better chance of advancing to Thursday's semifinal round.
Not that it will be easy. Only about 50 of the 293 youngsters in the national competition will move on, and about 70 of them already have competed in one or more national bee.
Amy, on the other hand, is a first-timer who started honing her spelling skills in bees a mere four years ago.
But the 14-year-old home-schooler from Stevens appears to be taking the pressure in stride.
She hit the word lists and spelling books hard Saturday, logging 4½ hours of studying before heading to D.C. Sunday with her mother, teacher and coach, Jill.
Since arriving, Amy has set aside the books and spent most of her time socializing with the other spellers and seeing the sights of the nation's capital, including visits Tuesday to the National Portrait Gallery and the Library of Congress.
Amy enjoyed the trips but was a bit disappointed that she couldn't actually see the books housed in the Library of Congress — they're available only to researchers over the age of 16.
Books are her passion, and Amy's love of reading — she finishes a book a day when she's not cramming for bees — led to her love of spelling, she said.
Being around other competitors who are as enamored of words as she is has been liberating, Amy said.
"It's interesting because there are other kids I can discuss and talk about spelling with," she said. "They understand. Most of my friends are not really familiar with the spelling bee."
It's not uncommon for bee contestants to engage in spontaneous spelling dares ("Spell 'onomatopoeia'!") or "use long, obscure words that no one's heard of in conversation," Amy said. They also hold informal spelling study sessions in the halls and lobbies of the Grand Hyatt Washington, the bee's host hotel, but for the most part, their conversations are pretty typical teen fare.
"The first night, I almost forgot why I was here. It was kind of like a gabfest, a party," Amy said. "The congeniality of all the spellers has been amazing."
The festive atmosphere turned a little more serious Tuesday, when every speller took a computer-based spelling test of 50 words — 25 of which will help determine whether they make it to the next round.
"Personally, I thought it went pretty well," Amy said of the test. "Overall, I felt pretty good about it."
Today, the bee begins, as the spellers take to the stage beginning at 8 a.m. to spell one word in a morning competition and a more challenging word in the afternoon. Correct spellings are worth 3 points each, and the written test is worth 25 points. The 50 or so youngsters with the highest total scores at the end of the competition tonight will move on to the semifinal round Thursday.
In preparation for today's big test, Amy had planned to do little more than get plenty of rest and eat a good breakfast. When she dons speller No. 222 and steps onto the stage, her mother will be joined in the audience by her father, Thomas; grandmother Doris Gormley; and Amy's four siblings, Carolyn, 11; Elizabeth, 9; Kimberly, 7; and Robert, 4.
Amy's strategy will be to "just try to relax" — and hope for clear visions.
"When I'm trying to spell a word, I have a blank wall in my mind, and if I know it, I see (the word)," she said. "If not, I have to envision it."
"I'd love to win," Amy said of the bee, "but I know that's not a realistic possibility."
So she's set her sights on a somewhat less lofty goal — making it to Thursday's semifinals, which will air live on ESPN from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The championship will be televised live on ABC, beginning at 8 p.m. Thursday.
"That's still my goal, to make it to the ESPN round," Amy said. "And if I don't make it, that's still OK.
"I heard a mom say, 'If you pass the test, you get to go on and compete more. If not, you get a great vacation in Washington — and you're already a winner because you won the regional bee.'
"Plus, if you don't pass, you get a little more time for sightseeing."
E-mail: bwallace@lnpnews.com
