Johntay McAlphin kept his hands in his pockets, sweating like a waterfall, during the Union County Spelling Bee Jan. 15.
When he won, he couldn't believe it, and it took a little bit to sink in.
However, his mind is on different things now — about 400 words to be exact.
McAlphin, along with other fifth- through eighth-grade students throughout Arkansas, are gearing up for the Arkansas State Spelling Bee Feb. 1 at Cabot High School.
"It'd be cool if I did win, but if I didn't win it'd be OK because, like my mom said, at least I got this far, at least I tried my best and still did good," McAlphin said. "Winning is not necessarily always everything to me, although half the time it is."
McAlphin, a seventh grader from Barton Junior High School, will represent Union County schools at the state bee. The winner of state will attend the Scripps National Spelling Bee, which will be Memorial Day week, May 24-29 at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland.
The way McAlphin got into the county bee, though, is by helping his younger sister, J'Miracle McAlphin, study for her school spelling bee at Washington Middle School.
After she won, Johntay knew he had to one-up her and that his school spelling bee was his chance.
Once the two qualified, they knew they'd compete against each other. It didn't stop them, though, from studying together.
"It was very interesting [watching them study] because they are very competitive with each other," said Stephanie Green, mother of Johntay and J'Miracle. "There was a lot of arguing and a lot of fussing."
Green helped her children, too. She said there was one night where she would call out words. J'Miracle would spell one, Johntay the next and then they'd spell one together.
"We just laughed and had a good time," Green said. "I am so proud of both of them."
Johntay said when he was prepping for the county bee, he was a bit nervous for the word "sheriff" because of the double-f.
"I felt like those didn't belong," he said.
On the day of the spelling bee, though, he said he was "4,769 million percent nervous."
He even texted his mom he was at level 100 with his nerves, but she knew he'd be OK.
Barton Junior High School librarian Alexa Inman, who organized the school spelling bee and took Johntay to the county bee, said no one could tell he was nervous.
"We had two students from Barton compete, and to watch them overcome those nerves and be very mature about it and have poise," Inamn said. "They didn't get upset when they missed a word. It was fun to watch."
Johntay said he's taking studying for the state bee a little more seriously — 30 minutes in the morning and 30 in the afternoon.
However, if he doesn't win, he said he'd be OK with it since making it to the bee is an accomplishment in and of itself.
He recommends, though, to other students studying for this bee or ones in the future, to keep their eyes on the prize and not get distracted.
"But most important of all, if you're here this far, that's good," he said. "If you go even further, even better, but just remember you were able to get this far, which is an amazing achievement."