Scripps National Spelling Bee marks a century of competitive spelling this week.
Updated May 27, 2025 at 1:41 PM CDT
The Scripps National Spelling Bee marks its centenary this week, tracing its roots back to 1925 when nine newspapers organized the inaugural competition. The event, designed to test students' spelling abilities, initially saw participation from just nine spellers. However, millions have since joined the Bee since its inception.
In an interview with NPR, champions from various eras discussed how the competition influenced their lives. One such champion, Karthik Nemmani, emerged victorious in 2018 at the tender age of 14 with the word "koinonia," a Greek term for fellowship. Although it's seldom used in casual conversation, Nemmani, now 21, asserts that the discipline of learning complex words has positively impacted his academic life, as he recently completed his junior year at the University of Texas at Austin, pursuing a double major in computer science and linguistics.
"I've always been more of a problem solver type of person," Nemmani shared.
Unlike most competitions, participants in the Scripps National Spelling Bee must not have advanced beyond eighth grade or reached their 15th birthday. Nupur Lala, the 1999 champion, clinched the victory with "logorrhea," a word meaning excessive or incoherent talkativeness. Her accomplishment was highlighted in the 2002 documentary Spellbound.
Lala, now 40, attributes her career as a neuro-oncologist who specializes in brain and spine tumors to her Spelling Bee experience. "I learned to absorb a lot of information quickly," she said. She will be getting married next month and revealed that spelling will even play a role in her wedding ceremony, with her fiancé including it in his vows.
John Paola, winner of the 50th National Spelling Bee in 1977, claimed victory with "cambist," a dealer in bills of exchange. He fondly recalls the experience and how it opened doors for him, particularly in his interview for veterinary school.
"My two interviewers only wanted to talk about the National Spelling Bee. There were no questions about what drove me to be a veterinarian or what my goals were in my professional career," he reminisced. Paola, now 62, plans to retire in July and fondly regards his Bee win as his most cherished academic achievement.
The preliminaries for this year's Scripps National Spelling Bee are scheduled to commence on Tuesday, with semifinals and finals available to watch via ION, a Scripps TV network.
[Credit: NPR - Adriana Gallardo (Radio Editor); Majd Al-Waheidi (Digital Adaptation)][Copyright 2025 NPR]
The Scripps National Spelling Bee's centennial celebration reminds us that its roots date back to 1925, when the competition first tested students' spelling abilities. Interestingly, scholarship and self-development have been key takeaways for many competitors, such as Karthik Nemmani, who found that the discipline of learning complex words benefited his studies in computer science and linguistics at the University of Texas at Austin.
Beyond academic achievements, the Bee has fostered diverse careers. For instance, Nupur Lala, winner in 1999, attributes her success as a neuro-oncologist to her ability to quickly absorb information, a skill she honed during her Spelling Bee days.
