Most students have that one talent they can’t help but compete to be the best at. For some it’s physical, whether it’s a team or individual sport. For others, it’s creative, a visual or performance art. For sophomore De-An Chen, it’s purely mental. Chen, who has been competing in Geography Bee tournaments since he was in fourth grade, recently finished first in the regional tournament, qualifying him for the national competition in Washington D.C.

The National Geography Bee is a buzzer-based competition, similar in format to quiz bowl, in which students compete to answer a question as quickly as possible. Chen has plenty of experience in these tournaments, having competed in national competitions since middle school, finishing as a semi-finalist last year.

In terms of preparation, Chen keeps it simple: “I usually go on this website called proto bowl,” Chen said, “it automatically reads you a question and then you answer as fast as you can.”

Chen will also do practice questions from the official website and textbooks.

Chen’s interest in geography stems further back than he started competing, so the tournament experience has felt like an extension of that passion: “I’ve always been interested in geography,” he said, “so this was kind of a natural thing to do.”

The geography bee also goes hand-in-hand with some of Chen’s other extracurriculars: “I started doing spelling bee and then afterwards I did geography bee.”

Chen’s experience also reduces his pre-competition nerves, as he’s learned to appreciate the tournament experience as opposed to the result: “I feel like the tournaments are more fun because I just find geography really interesting,” he said. The chance to travel to a different state to compete means meeting with different people with similar interests, and that opportunity trumps the tournament nerves.

Going into the national tournament, Chen keeps his typical practice routine up to go in ready: “I’m feeling pretty good and I’m excited to meet new people.”

Nationals take place in May.