MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — What is the capitol of Slovakia? That’s an easy one for Andrew Christy, an eighth grader at St. Francis Central Catholic in Morgantown. The answer is Bratislava. He knows that because he is West Virginia’s Geography Bee champion. This week, he’ll get to show off his talents at the the 26th annual National Geographic Bee in Washington, D.C.
This won’t be his first trip to the competition. In fact, he’s been there twice before as state champion. He’s hoping the third time will be the charm. Christy knows his geography. A guest last week on MetroNews Talkline, he told Hoppy Kercheval he’s always had a love of the subject.
“I always liked looking at the globe and when I was little I would spin the globe and tell where it landed on. Then I’d act like I’d gone there,” explained the geography whiz.
Today his study technique isn’t that much different.
“I looked at maps. I would write facts about the U.S. states and the countries in the world,” he said. “I would look at the globe.”
His mom also helped him prepare and he read a lot of books.
Unlike the state competition, the nationals won’t have any questions about individual states. It’s world geography. Christy said he’s very good at questions about world capitols. He admits he’s not so strong when it comes to facts about South America.
He’s been study several hours a day to prepare for the big competition. With his third go around, he knows he has stiff competition.
“It’s pretty intimidating,” he admitted. “The people from the big states like California and New York and Texas, you pretty much know they’re going to be good!”
Competition starts today and wraps up with the finals on Wednesday.