Photos courtesy of Jeffrey S. Hall Photography
Nicholas Rushlow’s favorite word is “bhutatathata.” And yes, you can ask him to spell it.
Rushlow, 18, just graduated from Pickerington High School North, and he’s already had a career as a five-time National Spelling Bee contestant.
“One day in fourth grade, the teacher told us to get out a piece of paper and gave us a 50-word spelling quiz,” Rushlow says. “As it turned out, that was my first school bee, and I had won.”
That was in 2008. Since then, Rushlow has tied national spelling bee qualifying records, served as vice president of Student Council, been a four-year varsity swimmer at North and practiced his violin all the while as a member of North’s orchestra.
That first written spelling bee in fourth grade qualified Rushlow for the Lancaster regional competition, and after winning that, he qualified for the 2008 Scripps National Spelling Bee.
He went on to participate in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, held annually in Washington, D.C., for five years straight from 2008 to 2012. That feat has been accomplished by only 10 other spellers in the last 87 years.
The first year, Rushlow completed 22 rounds as one of only two fourth-graders at the competition. He didn’t place, but his curiosity about words and spelling was sparked. The following year, after months of poring over the Merriam-Webster International Dictionary, he placed 17th out of 300. Two years later, he placed 4th, his personal best.
Summers for Rushlow look a bit different than those of an average high school student. He uses the time to study the dictionary and the many binders full of words in his house. To become familiar with the roots and patterns of words, he has to study many languages, including German, Yiddish, Hawaiian, Sanskrit, Italian, French and Portuguese.
“My final year, I spelled all 500,000 words in the Merriam-Webster International dictionary,” says Rushlow. “This took me 600 hours to complete over the summer.”
Rushlow with his violin
Rushlow has studied spelling an estimated 9,000 hours over the years. When he comes across a word he doesn’t know in a competition, those hours of studying become indispensable.
“Most words given at the Scripps Bee are unfamiliar,” he says. “By studying language patterns and word roots, most words can be pieced together.”
Rushlow’s father, Keith, a biochemist, helps him study medical words and science words, which often have Latin roots. His mother, Michelle, also a biochemist and a stay-at-home mother, tends to help with the Romance languages.
His last year as a contestant at the National Bee was 2012, but Rushlow still returns every year. The new kids know who he is, and he’s taken to offering an encouraging presence. Rushlow also volunteers for ESPN at the bee, gaining press clearance to help with some of the filming. After he starts college, he’ll be an official volunteer at the bee.
Nicholas Rushlow at his very first spelling bee
Locally, Rushlow helps run the school spelling bees at Ridgeview and Lakeview junior high schools, and he also serves as a pronouncer at Harmon Middle School and a judge for the Lancaster Eagle-Gazette Regional Spelling Bee.
Rushlow hasn’t yet decided where he will go to college, but he has gained entry to the University of Notre Dame, Washington University St. Louis, Miami University and an honors program at The Ohio State University.
Wherever he chooses to go, Rushlow plans to study biochemistry and to one day become an eye surgeon.
As for spelling, does he miss it?
“Definitely,” he says. “That’s the reason I return to the National Bee every year to volunteer.”
Jessica Williams is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
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