SMARTEST SHIVASHANKAR SISTER
Vanya Shivashankar, an eighth grader from Olathe, Kansas, was last month crowned the winner of the Lifetime series “Child Genius,” outlasting 19 other super-intelligent children from around the country. The 13-year-old won a trophy, $100,000 for her college education, and the right to challenge her older sister, Kavya, for the title of “Smartest Shivashankar Sister.”
Kavya, a neuroscience and pre-med student at Columbia University, won the 2009 National Spelling Bee (and $40,000 in cash and prizes) when she was 13. Vanya recently qualified for the National Spelling Bee for the fourth straight year. It’s her last shot at matching her sister’s spelling achievement.
“I’m just going to keep doing what I normally do each year—study, have fun and see how far I go,” she told the Kansas City Star. “There’s no point in stressing. I want to stay calm.”
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