How would you rate in spelling’s meritocracy?
Isobella Nicholls surely won’t forget how to spell ‘meritocracy’ any time soon. That word – which means ‘a society governed by people selected according to merit’ – was the last of 11 she spelt correctly to earn the title of National Spelling Bee champion on Saturday.
The 14-year-old Year 10 student, from Carmel College in Auckland, prevailed against 17 of the country’s sharpest young spellers at a gruelling two-hour elimination contest in Wellington.
Isobella had to handle words like ‘oligopoly’ – a market or industry dominated by a small number of sellers – and ‘demagogue’ – a political leader who seeks support by appealing to popular desires and prejudices – on her way to the title.
She held her nerve while others tripped on words like ‘insouciant’ – showing a casual lack of concern – and ‘impecunious’ – having little or no money.
Isobella is far from impecunious now, though, after she earned $5000 and a trophy for her efforts. ‘‘I’m really, really happy. This is the first time I’ve actually won something,’’ she said afterwards. ‘‘It’s nice to have my first trophy.’’
And the one word she would use to describe the pressure of spelling on stage in front of a few hundred people?
‘‘Terrifying,’’ she said. ‘‘When it was down to the last five people . . . my teeth literally started chattering. I had to clench my jaw so that it didn’t look obvious.’’
There were a few words other contestants got which she was happy to avoid, she said. ‘‘I would have spelt ‘hubris’ wrong.’’
Isobella said all the competitors were given a list of 200 words before the competition, which she spent about 40 minutes a day trying to memorise.
‘‘I did try reading the reading the dictionary as well – so did one of the other girls – but we both only made it to ‘C’.’’
Isobella said she would put her $5000 towards going on her school’s World Challenge expedition to perform humanitarian work in Ecuador.
Spelling Bee organiser Janet Lucas said the finalists in this year’s ‘‘war of the words’’ were whittled down from 200 who competed in six regional spelling bees for Year 9 and 10 students throughout the year.
With Isobella taking out the 2015 title, it made it six female and five male winners during the 11-year history of the event.
‘‘It was a full-on competition,’’ Lucas said. ‘‘It’s getting harder because the spellers are turning up more prepared. They’re taking their dictionaries on holiday.’’