Trussville 10-year-old to compete in national memory competition

By Megan Miller, Editor

TRUSSVILLE – A Trussville fifth-grader is participating in a national memory competition, boasting a $10,000 prize for the winner.

Malyn Smith, 10, is one of 16 finalists in the National Memory Master Competition.

5th grader Malyn Smith is one of 16 finalists in the National Memory Master Competition. (Submitted Photo)

The competition kicks off May 2, with Smith competing in three rounds of academic memory testing during a five-day cruise to the Bahamas. Each finalist has received two free tickets on the cruise and $800 for travel expenses.

“I was shocked to be selected as a NMM finalist,” Smith said. “It still feels like I’m living in a dream.”

All of the finalists had to endure a rigorous series of local and regional competition in order to make it to the finals.

The competition is hosted by Classical Conversations, a classical education resource used by homeschoolers in all 50 states, as well as in 14 foreign countries. There are more than 93,000 students enrolled in the tutoring programs worldwide.

Smith attends the Riverchase Classical Conversations community in Hoover.

“Her passion for life and learning drives her education,” Malyn’s mother Aimee said. “In class, her leadership motivates her friends to pursue learning and her creativity with words adds joy to her classroom.”

Smith enjoys playing with her three brothers, reading, crocheting or learning about horses in her spare time.