CANTON, Mich. (WXYZ) — Older sisters pass down a lot of things to their younger siblings: knowledge, sometimes clothes, and in the case of one Canton family, a passion for spelling.
"I love seeing her happy, which makes me happy, which makes her happy, which makes me happy," said Divya Choudhary, talking about her bond with her oldest sister, Pragya.
A sister's love can sometimes be hard to put into words.
"It’s like having an in-built best friend," said Pragya.
But words come easy to Divya and Pragya — so does spelling.
You see, Pragya competed in the Scripps National Spelling Bee near Washington, D.C., back in 2018.
And now, six years later, her youngest sister, Divya, is following her lead after buzzing her way to the top of the Wayne County bee.
I asked her what immediately went through her mind when she found out she was heading to the Scripps National Spelling Bee this year.
"Oh my goodness, my dad’s getting me an iPhone," she said excitedly.
The phone deal has been a tradition in the family, starting with Pragya, who shared in the excitement with her sister's win.
"I immediately started texting all of my friends. I am the worst when it comes to my sisters … they sneeze in an impressive way and suddenly everybody I am around knows about it," Pragya said.
At 10 years old, Divya will be the youngest from Michigan to compete this year.
"I’m freaked out," she confessed.
But when I asked her if she was bringing any lucky charms, she pointed to the other side of the room, at her mom and sister sitting nearby.
Divya has been preparing for this moment, whether she realized it or not, since she was a toddler, surrounded by bee practice.
Pragya recounts the time she and her sister Jaya were learning about the pronunciation differences of the word minute. Divya, a toddler at the time, was playing nearby.
"We’d go, ‘Divya, minute is a measurement of time and minute means really, really small — do you understand Divya, and very clearly she went, ‘no.’”
But she would come to understand that and so much more. Their zest for learning and teaching one another continued to grow right along with them.
"What I have told them, like how eating, sleeping, breathing is important, education is important too," said Lalita Mishra, mother of Pragya, Jaya and Divya.
VIDEO: Lalita explains how learning over winning is a marker of true success
Divya has dreams of being an astrophysicist—and she participates in many activities, besides spelling, that bring her joy.
"I like writing, I swim, I sing north Indian Hindustani classical music," she said.
Pragya, Divya and their middle sister Jaya are an impressive trio — Jaya, by the way, got a perfect score on her SATs, and is heading to Princeton in the fall — but more than their accomplishments, what shines the most is the deep admiration they have for one another.
"That’s the beauty of being the eldest of three — each one of them is so much more impressive, and it makes me so, so proud," said Pragya.
So no matter what happens at the bee, Divya will have her dream cheer squad in the crowd.
"It’s going to be like watching your favorite action movie, your favorite thriller movie, but instead of it being a movie, this is my sister," said Pragya.
As for the advice Divya is taking with her: "She told me it's scary sometimes, but I'll do good, and the adrenaline is fun."
Nine spellers from Michigan will compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, kicking off May 28. We’ll be watching and rooting them on! To find out how you can watch, click here.
See all of the Michigan spellers below:
