A 14-year-old New Jersey student won the National Geographic Bee on Wednesday, besting more than 50 other finalists to win a $50,000 college scholarship and an all-expenses-paid trip to the Galapagos Islands.
On his route to victory, Menon displayed an impressive level of knowledge about the world’s cities, countries, waterways and landforms, proving that not all Americans live up to our nation’s reputation for geographic illiteracy.
In the championship round, Menon faced off against Shriya Yarlagadda, 11, of Michigan. Bee host Soledad O’Brien asked a series of seven questions, and the contestants had just 12 seconds — 12! — to write down each of their answers.
Menon answered all seven correctly, narrowly defeating Yarlagadda, who missed just one.
The Bee’s final rounds were taped to air on television on Friday, May 15, at 8 p.m., on National Geographic Channel and on Wednesday, May 20 at 7 p.m. on Nat Geo WILD.
So how might you have fared in the Geographic Bee big leagues? See whether you can answer the seven championship-round questions by taking the quiz below.