11-Year-Old Cupertino Boy To Represent State In National Geographic Be

May 10, 2015

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIH1I1doUI4

An 11-year-old Cupertino boy will be representing California in the 27th annual National Geographic Bee in Washington D.C. next week.

Madhavan Krishnan is one of 54 finalists in grades four through eight in which a $50,000 college scholarship is at stake. The winner will also receive a lifetime membership in the National Geographic Society and a trip with a parent or guardian to the Galapagos where they will have an all-expenses-paid ride on the National Geographic Endeavour ship.

The contest starts on Monday and the top 10 competitors will advance to a final round on Wednesday. Madhavan can be seen in a YouTube video that has received more than 1 million views naming all the state capitols in less than three minutes.

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He said his strength going into the competition is world geography and in particular countries in Asia and Africa.

He had entered competition at the state level in fourth grade, but didn’t make it out of the preliminary round. The next year he made it to 15th place.

While he is nervous about the contest, Madhavan said is also very excited. Madhavan said he isn’t intimidated about the other competitors. Seven of this year’s finalists are returning to the competition for either a second or third time.

He’s been preparing by looking through online geography maps on his iPad and checking out books from the library.