Student Activities Hosts First Spelling Bee

Liberty students exercised their brains at Student Activities’ first spelling bee. 

Held in the LaHaye Event Space Feb. 5, students had the opportunity to either join the audience or compete against other students. Participants competed in four different categories: Botanicals, Space, Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) or Harry Potter. 

Student Activities event supervisor Courtney Stone enjoyed seeing all kinds of students participating in a unique event like the spelling bee.  

“(Student Activities) hoped to make it a fun community event. People who don’t necessarily want to come to something like a sporting event or a roller skate night and are more academic could come and show off their talent,” Stone said. 

For each spelling category, participants gathered onstage and played through a process of elimination. The last person standing in each category chose a prize of a $100 Target or Amazon gift card. 

Liberty student Sydney Geist couldn’t contain her excitement after she won the MCU category.

“I’ve always wanted to be a part of a spelling bee. I always knew I had some kind of a talent for spelling, so I’m really glad that I was able to put those skills to the test and especially to do it to something I love. So, it’s been a great event and I had a lot of fun,” Geist said. 

Students laughed regardless of whether they won or lost when trying to spell complicated words like “penumbra,” “mitochondria,” “Azkaban,” “Wakanda” and more. In the end, the winners of each category were Cobran Galloway in botanicals, Dawson Bley in space, Sydney Geist in MCU and Jordan Sheive in Harry Potter.

Bley said he would participate again if Student Activities hosted another spelling bee.

“The world needs to know who the champion spelling bee king is,” Bley said, laughing. “I would totally come again, and I would bring more people. Even though it’s more competition, bring it on. The more the merrier.”

A constellation of people surrounded the stage with cheers for all who competed, the rowdiest of the bunch being the women’s lacrosse team, who celebrated that one of their own took home a prize. Sheive, a lacrosse player, won the Harry Potter category. 

For more information on student events happening around campus, students can visit the Student Activities page at liberty.edu/sa.

Wallace is a feature reporter.