Corbin Trevino, a seventh grader at Flour Bluff Junior High, is heading to the nation's capital to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Trevino spent months studying thousands of words — their meanings, their origins — all leading up to one moment. He clinched his spot by correctly spelling his winning word at the regional competition.
"I knew my winning word immediately… amygdala… A M Y G D A L A… as in like brain anatomy," Trevino said.
But winning didn't happen overnight. Trevino said natural talent alone wasn't enough.
"I happen to have like a natural like affinity for it, but you know, if, if you don't like harness that natural ability, I was gonna get nowhere," Trevino said.
From the very start of the school year, Trevino made his goal clear — and he told Flour Bluff Junior High librarian Rebecca Boyd exactly what he planned to do.
"Right off the bat in the school year Corbin came in and he started inquiring about the spelling bee, and he said he was going to win the spelling bee, and I believed him… he put in so much work and dedication… it was really, really inspiring to watch him every day," Boyd said.
Part of that dedication was fueled by a weekly tradition Boyd keeps in her library.
"And I have a word of the week, and he would come in and look through it, and he would study it, and he would look at the origin, and he would quiz me about it," Boyd said.
At home, the routine was just as rigorous — chess, word puzzles, and thousands of words studied daily. His father, Marvin, said the family's role has been simple: get out of the way and let him go.
"Its not surprising he's showed a lot of interest in this for quite a while. He wants to take it as far as he can take it and basically just clear the way for him and let him basically rev him up and let him go," Marvin said.
I am a Flour Bluff alumni, and now Trevino will represent the Coastal Bend — and the neighborhood — on the biggest spelling stage in the country. Trevino competes at the Scripps National Spelling Bee later this month.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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