Nine spellers will compete Thursday night for the championship in the 100th Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Esha Marupudi of Arizona, 13, is one of the spellers going for the Scripps Cup.
"Now that I'm actually on the stage and I get to experience it, it feels really, really different — and I love being on that stage," she said.
For some of the spellers, like Faisan Zaki of Texas, it's their fourth time at the Bee.
He was the runner-up during last year's finals.
"The words were definitely harder, especially round 10 compared to round 10 last year," Zaki said. "These words were so much harder. But I really commend Scripps for the good word choice, though."
RELATED STORY | Longtime Scripps Spelling Bee officials keep the buzz going for spellers
For first-time finalists, like 11-year-old Sarv Dharavane, it is a moment to reflect on all that it took to get here.
"It's the finals," he said. "I'm also really ecstatic because this is my main goal for the entire two years I've been doing this. This is unbelievable. I can't believe I did this, but we'll see what happens because I'm facing up against some tough competitors."
All of the competitors endured marathon sessions of spelling, vocabulary and even a written test, which they say helped prepare them for what comes next.
Nine finalists may be a smaller group than in some past years, but the excitement is just as high. Tonight, during the Bee's centennial year, we’ll find out who will become the next champion.
Programming note: You can watch the Scripps National Spelling Bee finals live starting at 8 p.m. Eastern, 7 p.m. Central on Scripps News and over-the-air on our sister station, Ion Television.
