According to Encyclopedia Britannica, Eris is a large, distant body of the solar system, revolving around the Sun well beyond the orbits of Neptune and Pluto in Kuiper Belt. For Vincent Chu, an eighth-grade student at Hampton Middle School, it was the word he spelled correctly to win this year’s Prince William County Regional Spelling Bee." Gar-Field High School played host to this year’s competition sponsored by InsideNoVa.

“I’m still processing it, my victory,” said Chu shortly after his win. “I’ve been studying for this since December after I won my school spelling bee.”

Chu competed in the regional competition the previous two years but never advanced.

“Last year, I didn’t do very well but I just kept persevering and never gave up,” Chu said.

Chu’s mother, Poppy Guo, watched from the audience as she has for the last three years as her son continued to advance through each round.

“I felt like my heart was jumping out,” Guo said. “Him being here for the third time, I know that feeling every time,” she said.

Guo will have another opportunity to watch her son compete as he now advances to the Scripps National Spelling Bee at National Harbor, Maryland in May.