UPDATE May, 13 2015, 2 p.m.: Abhinav Karthikeyan, the Maryland finalist competiting in the National Geographic Bee Championship has come in at 5th place, according to his father.
The competition will air Friday on the National Geographic Channel at 8 p.m. and on Nat Geo WILD at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 20.
EARLIER May 13, 2015, 5 a.m.: WASHINGTON — Abhinav Karthikeyan knows just the place: anywhere in the world.
The 12-year-old from Clarksburg, Maryland, competes Wednesday in the National Geographic Bee Championship. The 10 finalists who advanced from a field of 54 state-level winners are set to compete at the National Geographic Society in D.C.
Karthikeyan has been in the competition twice before, but this is the furthest he’s made it.
“I’m excited because it’s my first time in the top 10, and I want to seize the moment and enjoy it,” says the sixth grader from Roberto Clemente Middle School in Germantown, Maryland.
He has been mesmerized by maps for most of his life.
“In preschool, we cut out maps of continents, and I was really curious about continents,” he says. He wondered where these continents were, what life would be like if he lived in another one and what kinds of animals were there.
It’s a gross understatement to say he’s learned a few things about the world since then.
“For three years I’ve been studying for this goal, and the moment when the announcer announced my question was correct, my mind was so joyful,” he says.
Karthikeyan says Antarctica is the place that fascinates him most.
The winner of the National Geographic Bee wins a $50,000 college scholarship, lifetime membership in the National Geographic Society and a trip to the Galápagos Islands. Second- and third-place winners receive $25,000 and $10,000 college scholarships respectively.
The championship will air on the National Geographic Channel at 8 p.m. on Friday, May 15, and on Nat Geo WILD at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, May 20.
The National Geographic Bee’s website has a daily quiz that tests users’ knowledge on geography. Take the quiz from Tuesday below:
