Every spring, students from across the country gather in Washington, D.C., to compete on the most competitive spelling stage. Most people would agree the words spelled at Scripps National Spelling Bee are strange, confusing and mind-boggling.

For many young hopefuls, a trip to D.C. is only about those complicated words; however, Amelia Gormley, winner of the Intelligencer Journal Spelling Bee in 2009, was determined to make her journey not just about the spelling.

Although Amelia's main reason for visiting Washington D.C. was to compete, she came away from the experience with the ideas for something new and different.

In her final year of eligibility, Amelia put forth all that she had to have just one chance at Scripps. After spelling the winning word "teleran," Scripps became a reality.

"It was Thursday night that the idea came about," Amelia said. "I heard all the kids talking, and it kind of grew into, 'what if I could write a book?' "

This thought was transformed into her publishing of "Verbomania: Experiencing the National Spelling Bee." Her simple thought became an extraordinary project where she was able to reconnect with her spelling journey; from the words to the friends and to the roller coaster ride of emotions.

She said after winning that she was "shocked, because it was something I was wanting and anticipating. I had been waiting all those years."

Of course, the win required hours of preparation. The Intelligencer Journal provided two binders of 23,000 words to study. Amelia focused on the high-frequency list and previous words used at Scripps, saying that it was too difficult to learn every single word.

Two and a half months later, Amelia arrived at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Washington, D.C., where all the spelling chaos took place. She felt mixed emotions but knew she had an opportunity of a lifetime.

"At that point, it was feeling more like a great vacation. I guess I was a little nervous too," Amelia said.

Sunday was registration day and until Tuesday the competitors had downtime to get to know each other by attending picnics and passing around their Bee Keeper.

As a way to make the kids feel comfortable and ease the tension, each individual was provided with the Bee Keeper, a spiral-bound notebook with biographies of each speller and space for autographs. From The Bee Keeper she was able to make lasting friendships and meet some of her idols, including Carolyn Andrews, word list manager. Amelia was an avid follower of Carolyn's helpful column, "Carolyn's Corner."

Once Tuesday came, the competition officially began. Amelia had to take a computerized test and spell two words on stage before qualifying for the semifinals, which is what is usually televised. On the computerized test, Amelia was not sure of some words but still felt she had a chance. In the second round, she missed "halogen," which was a defeating moment for her, but she managed to boost her confidence by spelling "ordonnance" correctly in the third round.

"I felt like I was on top of the world," Amelia said. "I spelled a word right in the National Spelling Bee, and that is kind of special."

Unfortunately, Amelia missed the semifinals by three points. Even though she was disappointed, she carried herself with grace as she watched her peers spell, cheering on her favorite, Kavya Shivashankar, who was eventually crowned champion.

Throughout the writing process, the project seemed intimidating.

"Now and then I was thinking, 'who am I kidding?' "

She realized that the project was hers to create.

This began the journey of writing the 144-page book that describes Bee Week in Washington, DC. "It details the tension and nerves, friendship and camaraderie, laughter and tears, the joy that comes with winning and the heartbreak that accompanies losing at the Scripps National Spelling Bee," according to the review published on www.lulu.com.

"I wasn't writing it for the bestseller list; I was writing it for my fellow spellers and me," Amelia said.

With the help of her parents and blog followers, Amelia's concept of the book changed from being about the words to the people that had an impact on her. She e-mailed her fellow Bee competitors for quotes to use throughout the book. Amelia also interviewed Dr. Jacques Bailly, the official word pronouncer who has held the position since 2003.

"It was interesting to find out that he was human. I had never thought of him as a person," she said with a smile.

"I chose the title my book to be 'Verbomania' because as I was paging through the Consolidated Word List before the test I remember seeing that another kid had starred it on the list, and I remember thinking that it was a pretty cool word," Amelia explained.

Amelia published the book with the money that she won from the spelling bee and ordered 25 copies of her book through the self-publishing Web site www.lulu.com. The book can be purchased from the site.

"I knew I didn't have much chance of publishing it through a 'real' corporation like Random House or Simon & Schuster," Amelia said. "So I opted to use the private publishing company. My dad and I did all the formatting for the book, using the template that Lulu provided, and then uploaded it to the Web site."

When asked about the possibility of a second book in the future, Amelia said, "I'd like to write more books. I would someday like to write a novel about the spelling bee."

For now, Amelia is enjoying the works of other authors. She considers "At Home in Mitford" by Jan Karon to be one of her current favorites.

Although she is no longer eligible to spell in Scripps, she hopes to remain connected with the event that provided her with many chances most people will never experience in their lifetime.

"I'd like to maybe work for the Bee, and that could possibly give me the chance to write something."

Amelia found there are many other important things to be learned at the bee that have nothing to do with spelling rules such as "i before e except after c." She learned valuable lessons, gained lasting friendships and now has a memoir about the unforgettable opportunity that she will be able to treasure forever.

freestyle@lnpnews.com