Eleven-year-old Tampa resident Ameya Mujumdar took part in the National Geographic Bee on Wednesday alongside nine other finalists. Ameya, who is a fifth grader at Turner Elementary, won second place in the Bee and a $25,000 college scholarship.
The fact that the first place prize came with a $50,000 college scholarship and a trip to the Galápagos Islands did not seem to fluster this Bee contestant. When asked how he felt onstage, he answered with confidence, "I was not nervous," he said.
"I was cool and calm and listened to my questions as I answered them."
While geography is his current passion, Ameya plans to study Aerospace Engineering at Harvard. Ameya says that he would "like to learn what is outside this world after learning what is inside this world."
Though the question of which African country the city of Bata is being built in stood between Ameya and the first place prize, he might take on the challenge again next year as many participants do. For now, his $25,000 scholarship and the fact that he wowed the crowd by knowing the exact diameter of the Earth at the Equator (7,926 miles) will have to do. Watch Ameya take on the world alongside host Soledad O'Brien on Thursday at 7 p.m. on the National Geographic Channel or Nat Geo WILD.
For more information on Ameya's victory, check out this link: National Geographic Bee 2014
