Andrea Johnson/MDN Arianna Lega stands by a map of North Dakota. Her mom said a map used to decorate the wall in the geography whiz’s room. She will compete in the North Dakota Geography Bee later this month in Bismarck.

Erik Ramstad Middle School seventh grader Arianna Lega had a big passion for geography from an early age.

When other kids were reading picture books, Arianna, the daughter of Alex and Megan Lega, was obsessed with books about Tibet and other far away locales. She has three different globes.

“I wondered why it wasn’t a country,” said Arianna, who will compete at the North Dakota State Geography Bee on March 29 at Bismarck State College.

To qualify for the state competition, students took an online geography test. The top 100 scorers in the state qualified for the state bee. Arianna’s mom was particularly tickled when teachers told her that Arianna was the first girl to win the bee at Ramstad.

The geography bee has traditionally been heavily dominated by boys, though this year there are several girls from across the state who also qualified for the state bee. Other Minot kids who will compete at the state bee include Josh Myers, a fourth grader at Dakota Elementary at Minot Air Force Base; Arlene Sharp, a fifth grader at Edison Elementary; Joshua Hegstad, an eighth grader at Jim Hill Middle School; William Waidner, a seventh grader at Memorial Middle School at Minot Air Force Base; Caroline Maytan, a fifth grader at North Plains Elementary at Minot Air Force Base and Annaliese Rauschenberger, an eighth grader at South Prairie School in rural Minot.

Geography whizzes like Arianna tend to be good at memorizing a lot of different facts, some of them obscure. She said other kids sometimes ask her questions about where something is located.

Arianna, who also competed in geography bees as an elementary student, said it’s the cultural questions that tend to trip her up, such as a basketball teams that play on the African continent.

Winning a competition sometimes comes down to the luck of the draw. One contestant might be asked a relatively easy question like “What is the capital of Russia?” The answer is Moscow.

The next contestant might get a puzzler like “What is the capital of Mongolia?” The answer is Ulaanbaatar.

Arianna has studied from books about geography and has her family quiz her from the books or from flash cards.

Last year she didn’t get to go to the state bee because another Ramstad student beat her. This year she came out on top.

The Legas are an Air Force family, so Arianna has lived all over the country.

“I’ve lived in New York, Maryland, Wyoming, California, and here,” she rattled off, though she really wants to visit Europe.

She said she would love to see the Scandinavian countries and see the hot lagoons in Iceland.

She isn’t as interested in visiting Africa – “I don’t like hot weather,” she said – but would enjoy seeing countries in Asia.

Arianna also stays active in a lot of other activities. She just competed at the Regional Science Olympiad held at Minot State University last week and also competes in a swim club and in cross country.

She also sings in her church choir and is looking forward to studying piano at the International Music Camp at the International Peace Garden this summer. The camp is attended by kids from across the U.S. and from other countries, so she will also have a chance to make some new cultural connections at the camp.

The family will be transferred again sometime when Arianna is in high school and she will get to live in another part of the country. Arianna said her goal is to become a pilot and she plans to apply to the U.S. Air Force Academy.