Gary Simons Takes on Best Geographic Minds in NJ

For most kids, their parents going away would be a chance to relax a little.

Not for Gary Simons.

The eighth-grader spent last week cramming for the National Geographic geography bee, despite his parents being down in Key West.

While he didn’t make it past the preliminary round at Rowan University Friday, Simons still said the studying was worth it for a chance at trying something new.

“I’ve never really done anything like this,” he said. “It was just a cool experience to come here for the state competition.”

Simons got there by winning the middle school’s bee, then scoring among the top 100 in New Jersey—though, thanks to a few ties, he was actually facing off against 101 other kids for a shot at the state crown, which was won by Siddharth Kurella, an student at in Monmouth Junction.

Simons said the preliminary round’s written test questions came from all directions—“They were all hard,” he said with a laugh—but he particularly got stuck at the end of the prelims on one about countries bordering the Caucasus Mountains.

Despite getting knocked out early, Simons said his love of trivia and geography will live on.

“It’s interesting seeing how all the different countries interact around the world,” he said.