This year, children across the nation gather at the National Harbor in Maryland for a chance to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee champion.

During last year, the spelling bee ended in a tie. The list of words is supposedly harder this year in order to avoid a similar situation. Around 285 kids were participated in the competition and are between the age of 6 to 14. The preliminary rounds are scheduled on Wednesday, and the finals will be held on Thursday.

The competition is an amazing achievement for any kid. 11-year-old Neil Maes, being born deaf made his journey particularly difficult in this competition. After receiving cochlear implants in both ears, he had to train his brain to understand the spoken words. After countless hours of speech therapy, he has become one of the nation's top spellers.

The youngest competitor is six-years-old and the eldest is 15-years-old in the competition.

- Mayuka