Published March 9, 2005, in the Kirksville Daily Express

Story by Matthew Webber

KIRKSVILLE - The most "obscure" and "perplexing" words were no match for Emily Pollard, who outlasted nearly 50 other Ray Miller Elementary students to win the Kirksville spelling bee Tuesday afternoon.

A combination of practice, luck and skill brought Pollard into the seventh and final round, where she spelled the above two words to win applause, a $50 savings bond and her name on a plaque.

Pollard said she was happy and surprised her effort in the weeks leading up to the competition paid off.

"I did a lot of work," she said. "Every day, we'd go over a column, and if I missed one [word] we'd go over it again, and then later after we'd done them all we'd do them again."

But Pollard didn't miss any words Tuesday, as "delicacy," "burdensome," "exhaustedly " and "earnestly" stumped some of her classmates.

Pollard admitted to being nervous when the competition came down to her and fourth grader Chloe Kerlin, but she kept her confidence and treated the two words the same as any other.

"I was still nervous, but it was just basically the same as the other rounds, because, well, it's just words," said Pollard, a fifth grader and veteran now of three spelling bees.

"If you just think about it, it's all the same, no matter how many people there are."

In fact, Pollard said she was glad to hear the final word.

"I felt relieved because that was an easier word for me than some others they might have said."

Pollard's strategy throughout the competition was to visualize each word before spelling it, a skill she honed in her two previous spelling bees.

"I like to think about what the word looks like on paper and then remember exactly, and then just read it off," she said.

"I think I learned from the other two years, every year getting a little higher."

Unfortunately, although obscure words no longer perplex her, Pollard's career as a spelling bee contestant might be finished. There is no regional competition to attend, and Kirksville Middle School does not host the event.

However, when asked what happens next, Pollard's answer could apply to any number of future achievements:

"I don't know. For all I know, this is all there is. And, for all I know, there might be a world."