LONG BEACH, Calif. - The first Long Beach Unified student to go to the Scripps National Spelling Bee attends Stanford Middle School.

Dina Miranda has been playing trumpet in the school band for three years. However, she’s been spelling for more than twice that time.

Last year Miranda made it to the semifinal round of the Scripps Spelling Bee. She tied for 19th place.

This year is her last chance to compete.

“I’m sort of used to it, but yeah the first time I did it it was so scary,“ said Miranda.

When she’s not at school or making music, Miranda is probably studying. Her first spelling bee was in the second grade. She was technically too young to compete, but she beat the third graders in her class anyway.

“It’s just so fun and you also learn a lot,” said Miranda.

Miranda has been to regionals six years in a row. She’s beat out hundreds, if not thousands, of students for her spot at nationals.

Her goal is to place higher than she did last year. First place would take care of that nicely.