Posted on 05/27/2009 6:07:58 AM PDT by reaganaut1
The reigning national spelling champion is a 14-year-old kid whose one-liners kept everyone laughing a year ago. His parents moved to the United States from central India, and he wants to be a neurosurgeon when he grows up.
Last year's runner-up -- and one of this year's favorites at the Scripps National Spelling Bee -- is an all-business 13-year-old Indian-American boy from Michigan. He's also set his sights on neurosurgery.
Another favorite expected to be onstage for Thursday night's nationally televised finals is a 13-year-old Kansas girl with a sweet smile and a last name that's a spelling challenge unto itself. You guessed it: Her family comes from India, and she wants to be a neurosurgeon.
''Is that right?'' said Naresh Chand, bursting out in laughter. ''That's a coincidence. That's a big coincidence.''
Naresh is the father of Sidharth Chand, whose mishap in the final round last year allowed Sameer Mishra to claim the title. Trailing closely behind both was Kavya Shivashankar, a three-time finalist who tied for fourth. The three have come to know each other through the bee -- spellers are a tight-knit community, keeping tabs on each other through e-mails and instant messages throughout the year -- but it never occurred to any of them that they share more than a heritage.
''They only want (to be) neurosurgeons. How many people are going to go for neurosurgery?'' Sidharth's mother, Sunita, said with a shrug and a laugh.
Those who follow the bee see the Indian-neurosurgeon quirk as less of a coincidence. In the same way that Hakeem Olajuwon's success in the NBA inspired a generation of Nigerians to take up basketball, Sidharth, Sameer and Kavya can trace their roots to Balu Natarajan of Chicago, who in 1985 became the first Indian-American national bee champion.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
How is 'Chand' a spelling challenge?
Wow. A NYT article on successful homeschoolers without a single suggestion that the parents beat their children if they don’t spell well and lock them in cages overnight. What is the world coming to?
yup. just look at Basketball and NASCAR
Did he become a neurosurgeon?
You must think in terms of the AP writer's ideological template. This story involves dusky-skinned immigrants who are succeeding here despite all the barriers thrown up by us foreigner-hating, intolerant, racist, red-neck but lily-white Americans. If it had been about the kids of average fundamentalist Christians you can bet implications of whips and cages would have been everywhere -- if the story had been written at all.
Exactly! Though I'm sure there are some FReepers who will blast me with their life stories, how many of us became what we wanted to be at 13 or 14....and how many of us had our pubescent dreams side tracked by maturity and life with its attendant variables?
My take away is that the kid is aiming for what is considered to be a high-status and cool job. Apparently Indians are teaching / showing their kids that being smart is “Cool”, which is in marked contrast to other parts of American culture.
I agree and I admire their efforts...they get it.
Not anymore. Someone is trying to "level the playing field" on the public College campuses by killing American men in the east and midwest.
One of the last young men they murdered was a straight A student from a working class family who worked his butt off in High school and college to get a better life for himself and was not part of the PC crowd.
It's terrorism. The message is, don't go to College if you are a male who doesn't play "the right political game".
Yes...this is what America is coming to.
Considering all the Indians (from India) I have known, I would be glad to have an Indian as a surgeon.
(Indians don’t get and don’t need “affirmative action”)
“This story involves dusky-skinned immigrants who are succeeding here despite all the barriers thrown up by us foreigner-hating, intolerant, racist, red-neck but lily-white Americans.”
I don’t know if Indians count as legitimate victims in the AP template. They work too hard and are too successful financially. Their kids are too polite and do too well in school. Most especially, they don’t spend a lot of time on the news whining about how badly they are treated.
I'm aware of all the points you made. Now I just need you to link me to a similar laudatory AP story about non-immigrant American kids. I'm not saying one doesn't exist but I can't remember seeing any.
I assume it’s “Shivashankar” that’s supposed to be difficult to spell, although I don’t see why. Simple phonics.
Ah.... the reporter wasn’t too clear. I thought her name was “Chand”.
Indians (from India) instill in their children the values of hard work and excellence. They get after their children to do their homework, to study, to ask questions about things that they don’t understand, and to do extra work.
Thus Indians (from India) do much better than most Americans.
This should be a lesson to specially-privileged minority groups that are always whining and moaning about not getting ahead, while they encourage their children to loaf, not study, not excel, and to whine about being victims.
No, the reporter wasn’t clear at all! However, I think Sidharth Chand is a boy.
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