If You Competed In A Spelling Bee As A Kid — What Was The Word That Made You Lose It All? If you grew up in the US, you've probably heard of a little thing called the spelling bee. It's a school-wide competition where students anxiously get up on stage, shakily stand in front of a microphone, and are given a random word to spell. If you spell your word right, you can move on to the next round. Get it wrong? You're OUT and HUMILIATED. We can't all be winners.