Since Nihar Janga became the youngest Scripps National Spelling Bee champion in history on May 26, he is looking forward and expecting to garner more attention.
Janga, 11, split the championship with Jairam Hathwar, 13, of Corning, N.Y. on Thursday. The fifth-grader at River Ridge Elementary correctly spelled “gesellschaft” to earn his share of the title.
Nihar’s celebration drew the attention of Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant.
#NiharJanga you just made my whole day buddy.. Congrats on winning the #spellingbee champ.. Some how some way I have to get you to a game #x
— Dez Bryant (@DezBryant) May 27, 2016
“Even if he gets a bad throw by any quarterback, he tries his best to catch it. Like he doesn’t just fall down and he doesn’t say ‘Oh- I can’t catch that.’ He tries to catch it,” Janga said in a Skype interview Tuesday about Bryant.
Janga said he’s been preparing for the contest since he was in kindergarten and his sister told him about it.
“I didn’t expect it at all. I thought just go there and get some experience,” said Janga.
He added he is inspired by his great-grandma to become a neurosurgeon.
“She suffered a lot because of Alzheimer’s and she can’t even remember who you are, even if you saw her maybe one day from then. And I wanted to really help with that,” Janga said.
Nihar earned $40,000 in scholarship money for his win. He said he will put that money aside to attend his dream school, Harvard.
In addition to the scholarship, Janga received another $2,500 in scholarship money from Kindle. The company is also donating 100 e-readers to River Ridge Elementary in honor of Janga.
