(WXYZ) — Michigan’s own Aryan Khedkar finished fifth in the Scripps National Spelling Bee Thursday night.
The Troy Baker Middle School seventh grader started the competition on Tuesday with a total of 231 kids ages 9 to 14 from across the country. He was the last kid from Michigan competing in the spelling bee.
Aryan previously told 7 Action News that he’s been putting in about 23 hours a week of studying to prepare for the competition.
"Since I was in kindergarten, I have loved to spell and in fourth grade, I found out about the Scripps Spelling Bee," he said. "I thought it would be a good opportunity."
After many rounds in the bee, Aryan made it to the finals and finished in fifth place.
"It’s very nerve-racking, there’s a big audience and the ballroom is huge," Aryan said.
Teachers and fellow students told us they are very proud of how far Aryan has gotten in the competition, calling him “kind and humble.”
"When you explore more words, you get to know more language patterns," Aryan said. "So, I wasn’t just memorizing the word, I was learning the language pattern, learning the roots -- roots are really important."
He told us, "This was like a dream come true."
Congratulations, Aryan!
