My GeoBee Experience: A Look into the Past and Present

I recently watched this year’s National Geographic Bee that I recorded on my DVR, inspiring me to reminisce and write about my experiences at the 2009 GeoBee, as well as my observations on this year’s competition. I can say that a lot of things about the competition have changed, but if there’s one thing that’s remained static since 2009 (and possibly throughout the entire history of the competition), it’s the contestants’ continued enthusiasm and passion about geography.

The GeoBee 2.0

Some things I immediately noticed were the new electronic displays, which replaced the previous letter cut-outs against a backlight. But the Grosvenor Auditorium wasn’t the only thing refurbished, as a new scoring system was put into effect.

This year, National Geographic did away with the long-standing two-strike rule for elimination in favor of a scoring system similar to that of the National Geographic World Championship. Questions are now worth a certain value of points, differing by round and type of question. In addition, if a contestant answers correctly, then a set amount of points is added to their score, with no deductions for wrong answers.

Sometimes, a question came with multiple clues or various views of one map, albeit with the trade-off of less points for each clue or map used. Oftentimes, they also came with a bonus question related to the answer choices, although it came with the risk of losing one point if answered incorrectly.

In total, there were fourteen rounds of questions this year, and the contestants with the two lowest scores were eliminated from the competition at the end of rounds 5, 9, 12, and 14. The two remaining contestants then square off in a championship round with five regular questions and multiple tiebreaker questions, with one point per question. If a winner is not determined by the end for the first five questions, the round goes into sudden death, with the first to answer incorrectly relegated to second place.

The Competition

The Top Ten finalists included veterans Vansh Jain of Wisconsin, Anthony Cheng of Utah, and Karthik Karnik of Massachusetts, as well as Neelam Sandhu of New Hampshire, the younger sister of another successful GeoBee finalist Milan Sandhu, among others. They endured fourteen intense rounds of questioning, demonstrating their knowledge on topics related to the habitats of a species of lemur, the origins of a traditional Indian dance, and the site of the Titanic shipwreck — all with sufficient geographical clues, of course! (I have personally known Vansh from my time at the GeoBee, as well as Milan from being teammates at the 2009 National Geographic World Championship in Mexico.)

After the dust settled, 14-year-old Rahul Nagvekar of Texas emerged victorious, claiming the grand prize: a $25,000 scholarship, a lifetime membership to the National Geographic Society, and an all-expenses paid trip to the Galapagos Islands. Vansh Jain finished second, and California’s Varun Mahadevan took third.

As a former National Geographic Bee contestant, I thought this year’s questions were slightly easier (just my opinion since the questions that stumped me in 2009 might be easier for others) than 2009’s (in which I placed 5th in the Nationals), although the championship round questions were still very tough. In addition, I thought the new system was an improvement from the previous two-strike rule, providing more opportunities that future finalists can use to their advantage.

“One and Done” at the GeoBee

I was at a disadvantage when it came to preparing for the GeoBee. My elementary school never participated in the GeoBee or any other academic competitions, and when I entered middle school, I was immediately promoted to 8th grade, making my first (and only) year in middle school the only opportunity I had to enter the competition. Realizing that I was up against tough and much more experienced competitors (I was only 11 at the time!), I made the most out of that single opportunity, ruling the Michigan State Bee and eventually reaching 5th place in the National GeoBee’s top ten. (I also made it to Team USA at the National Geographic World Championship, but we’ll save that story for another day.)

I prepared (without a coach or any assistance from the school, except for maybe registering for the GeoBee ;D) using previous national champion Andrew Wojtanik’s guide Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, containing comprehensive facts on each country (e.g. major cities, population, highest and lowest points, major industries), while also browsing through several atlases for more information on any geographical feature I came across when reading. In addition, I also watched DVDs and documentaries about various countries and perused through travel books and issues of National Geographic magazine.

However, this preparation didn’t seem like a chore at all. Instead, I viewed it as a chance to improve my knowledge on something that has fascinated me since my early days: I have been interested in globes and maps since I was two years old, and that interest, although not in use right now, still lingers inside me. 

The Fun Times…

Despite getting caught up in the pressure to strive for the best possible position at the GeoBee, I still had a lot of fun participating, especially with some of the things that happened on the side.

I can still remember how great it felt to have all that pent-up pressure released once I emerged victorious at the 2009 State Finals at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. Even the ride back home was an awesome moment for me at that time. Eating a celebratory vanilla ice cream cone from McDonald’s while listening to Queen and James Taylor, among others, in the car… good times.

Another one was at the Nationals an afternoon trip to a small outpost in Maryland, a half-an-hour drive from Washington, D.C. This rural section of land contained various playground staples, like tetherball, mini golf, and basketball. The workers there also served a delectable selection of comfort food. It was also here where I met for the second time Ken Jennings of Jeopardy! fame (Fun fact: he later describes me as “four-foot nothing” but “energetic” kid in his book on geography, Maphead, from my exploits on the basketball court).

I spent most of my time there besting the frustratingly hard but entertaining mini golf course, and by the time it was time to leave, I was able to sink the golf ball in two strokes or less. But when I wasn’t playing mini golf, I was hanging around some of my fellow state finalists or playing basketball with them. I definitely wasn’t the best basketball player of the bunch, but I came pretty close, or so I thought.

There was also a really entertaining trolley tour of Washington, D.C. as well! You know those double-decker tours they have in New York or San Francisco (complete with the commentary), right? Well, this comes pretty close to that level of excitement, even if you do have to stay indoors. We passed by several notable landmarks, like the Smithsonian Museum, several foreign embassies, the Marine Corps War Memorial (also known as the Iwo Jima Memorial), and even the White House! We also shared stories about our experiences in our respective states’ Finals.

Another bout of fun during my D.C. trip was the souvenir exchange the night after the National Geographic Bee. It was interesting and somewhat entertaining to look through all the trinkets each finalist had to share. For one, the finalist from West Virginia had samples of coal encased in tiny glass jars, and many others had small bits of foodstuffs relating to their local cuisine (as for me, I brought in keychains with the map of Michigan imprinted on them). Then it got to the point where mostly everyone started playing catch to distribute their souvenirs (the floor was carpet, so things wouldn’t break easily) and everything became a right mess!

And to top it off, the thrill of meeting Alex Trebek is a sensation that can probably only be topped by actually winning the National GeoBee. Seriously. How would you react if you were within a two-meter radius of undoubtedly one of the most famous people in television history? Funnily, before the preliminary rounds, I chanced upon Alex Trebek as he was about to enter the National Geographic Headquarters. When I greeted him, he responded and mistakenly asked if I was Eric Yang (who went on to become the champion that year). Maybe it was because Eric used a picture from his younger years, or because my picture in that year’s book of contestants lacked those distinctive glasses. What’s even more interesting is that he is also one of the few people to pronounce my last name correctly on the first attempt.

A Few Memorable Questions

During the school stage of the GeoBee, we were asked about the location of Appomattox Court House, the site where Robert E. Lee surrendered to the Union. Instead of responding with “Virginia”, like I should have, I answered with “North Carolina”. Although I knew at the time that Appomattox was in Virginia, I mistakenly thought of Guilford Court House, the site of a Revolutionary War battle (which the British won, by the way).

Another important question for me was my winning question at the 2009 State Finals, which asked to identify what Asian country was also known by the moniker “Land of the Morning Calm.” I correctly answered with “South Korea” while my opponent responded with “Japan”. The funny part is that I didn’t know this tidbit of trivia until the night before the competition, when my dad told me about various Asian country monikers, such as the “Land of Golden Pagodas”.

During the preliminary rounds of the national level, contestants were randomly placed into five groups and were each asked nine questions. I was one of only three contestants to answer all nine preliminary questions correctly, along with Illinois’ Siva Gangavarapu and North Carolina’s Shantan Krovvidi, if my memory serves me right. It was said that because of this, NGC had to change all the final’s questions, thus making the 2009 championship one of the hardest GeoBee finals ever.

Then there were the two questions that eliminated me from the National Geographic Bee: one asking about the site of an ancient relic on a Caribbean island (answered “Hispaniola”; correct answer was “Cuba”) and the next about identifying the city near Laguna Salada, Mexico’s lowest point (didn’t answer in time; correct answer was “Mexicali”). The Laguna Salada question lived on to become an inside joke in the family.

If only they would have asked about latitude/longitude positions of countries and cities, I might have been the champion (just kidding). But here’s a tip for future contestants: read everything on National Geographic’s website, since I was remiss on that one aspect, proving costly in the end.

Drawbacks of the Grade Level Limit

I personally believe that the ability to participate in the National Geographic Bee should be a matter of age, not grade level. Students in similar situations shouldn’t be barred from entering the Bee just because they may already be in high school at 12 years old. I would have appreciated taking the opportunities I missed because of my advanced grade level, although I probably wouldn’t have been around for this year’s Bee.

And for those saying it would be an unfair advantage for those with accelerated courses, I would have to disagree. The questions on each level of competition span a wide array of subjects that it would still be a challenge to study and master them all, no matter what level of education — even high school or higher — you’re at.

And finally…

All other thoughts aside, the National Geographic Bee has probably taken a turn for the better. This innovative system transformed the contest so that raw brainpower wouldn’t be the only thing necessary to emerge victorious. Risk-taking and sacrifices are now equally important, providing new challenges and opening new doors for future contestants.