Homer Middle School student Maria Jose Hernandez-Just swept the Alaska statewide spelling bee competition Friday, March 21, securing a first-place win and a chance to compete at the Scripps National Spelling Bee this May in Washington, D.C.

Hernandez has been involved in spelling bees since kindergarten. This was her third time at the statewide spelling bee, after winning her school-wide competitions in fifth and sixth grade, too.

“I spent the whole drive up there studying,” Hernandez-Just said in an interview Saturday, March 29.

Besides getting quizzed by her family and friends, she uses an app called Word Club to study.

“It gives you flashcards and different game variations you can practice with. The one that I like to use gives you the pronunciation, and you can see the phonetic pronunciation, and you have to listen to it. It gives you a bunch of little buttons with language of origin, definition, and all that stuff.”

There were 74 other spellers from all over the state competing for first place. Hernandez-Just said she felt like “failure wasn’t an option” since this year is the second-to-last time she’d have the opportunity to participate. The statewide competition is open to students in eighth grade or below. Hernandez-Just is a seventh grader.

“I just didn’t really think about losing,” said Hernandez-Just. “I was really proud of myself.”

Friends and family have helped Hernandez-Just on the road to winning, not only through aiding her studying but also through their support and belief in her abilities.

“I had a reminder set on my phone, and it said ‘practice unless you want to lose’, and then one of my friends changed it to ‘You got this. If you don’t try, then you won’t succeed.’”

As far as advice goes for other young people interested in getting involved in competitive spelling, Hernandez-Just said if you want to win, you have to be dedicated.

“I think that if that’s something you’re trying to get into, you don’t just wing it. You need to put in the effort.”

The Scripps National Spelling Bee will take place May 27-29 in Washington, D.C.

This year’s spelling bee will be the 100th anniversary of the national competition.