Meet the Scripps Spelling Bee champ: Focused, disciplined

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Kavya Shivasankar doesn't want a cell phone, and she doesn't like the makeup applied for television appearances that began early Friday, the morning after she spelled "Laodicean" to win the 2009 Scripps National Spelling Bee.
The 13-year-old from Olathe, Kans., likes her violin, Indian dancing, swimming, biking, playing with her little sister Vanya and spelling, of course.
"I'm going to really miss spelling this next year because it's such a big part of my life," Kavya said Friday.
By 11:15 a.m. Friday, she'd already done stints on CNN, "Good Morning America" and "Fox and Friends." Plans were laid for her to travel to Los Angeles and New York for more time on the television circuit.
The newly minted celebrity is already adjusting to the spotlight, but she's had practice. She made it to the nationals four times before winning more than $40,000 in cash and prizes Thursday. She was ranked fourth in 2008.
"I've learned focus, discipline and how to stay composed on stage under pressure," Kavya said. "It's just been a great experience."
She plowed through 16 oral spelling rounds Wednesday and Thursday to snag success in the form of "Laodicean," a word that means a person who is lukewarm or indifferent, especially in religion.
After her first Bee, she asked for a violin and violin lessons.
Kavya seemed at a loss to think of a reward to request this time.
"She doesn't even want a phone yet," her father, Mirle Shivashankar, said.
"She thinks there is no point since when she goes to school, she just has to put it in the locker," her mother, Sandhya "Sandy" Shivashankar said.
Kavya plans to focus on high school and turn her attention toward another goal.
"There's some science programs I want to get into because I'm interested in being a neurosurgeon when I get older," Kavya said.
When she was 8, she became aware of two things she wanted out of life: to become the Bee champ and to become a neurosurgeon.
Even in kindergarten, it was apparent she had a way with words.
"She was an awesome reader to begin with," her mother said.
Kavya didn't have a set amount of hours she practiced spelling each day, instead fitting it in around a busy schedule of homework, family and favorite activities such as lessons in a very old form of Indian dancing.
"It's called 'Bharata natyam,' and I can spell it if you want," Kavya said.
Of course, she can.
E-mail Washington regional correspondent Trish Choate at choatet(at)shns.com.

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)