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During the day, Nikita Ramakrishnan seems like your average eighth grader at Rocky Run Middle School in Fairfax County, Virginia. She studies for all her classes, loves hanging out with her friends, and performs Bharatanatyam, an Indian classical dance.

But at any moment of the day, the 14-year-old studies words. She pulls out a stack of small index cards attached to a keychain, with about 100 words written on each card. She begins reading each card, breaking down each word before spelling it and moving on to the next one.

“I study every day, four to six hours with my family and by myself so that I can get that coverage of words,” Ramakrishnan said.

The teenager will compete in the 100th edition of the Scripps National Spelling Bee , which will take place May 27-29 at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center at National Harbor, Maryland. Ramakrishnan told WTOP that she’s feeling a mix of nervousness and excitement as the competition gets closer.

“I’ve been watching the spelling bee for a while,” she said. “I’ve been inspired by a lot of spellers, and I think that what they do is really awesome, and obviously different study methods work for everybody.”

After multiple attempts, she finally won the 2025 Fairfax County Spelling Bee in March after successfully spelling “xanthic.” The word is an adjective, from Greek, that means “colored with some tint of yellow — used of a flower.” Ramakrishnan recalled breaking the word down to the root of the word to figure out the spelling.

That method has been key in her preparation for nationals.

“Mostly just like looking for words by category, really understanding how I could break them apart and really understanding the words instead of memorizing them,” Ramakrishnan said.

Together with her family, spelling coach and friends, Ramakrishnan studies for hours a day. She uses index cards, vocabulary books and quizzes to practice breaking down words faster and more accurately. When she needs a break, she plays the saxophone or spends time with her dog.

Ramakrishnan named her mother her biggest supporter, hugging her for minutes after winning the county bee. But her mom is also her hardest coach, prepping her every day at any time.

“She probably quizzes me on more than 1,000 words a day,” Ramakrishnan said.

However, Ramakrishnan sees the additional quizzes and study reminders as support for doing well at nationals. She started to love spelling in elementary school and placed third in the county spelling bee as a fifth grader. Since then, her love of words has grown.

“After I won my first bee, I really started enjoying spelling, because I really liked how words could come from different origins and roots, and how I could figure them out, even if they had silent letters,” she said. “I think just the roots and the etymology of the word really mesmerized me.”

Ramakrishnan even has a staple of favorite words to spell, including Chippendale and milquetoast. Her absolute favorite is tangantangan, which is a castor-oil plant.

“I have this teddy bear, and he’s, like, humongous and really fluffy,” she said. “My mom used to have him when she was younger, and his name is Tangan, so I really like that word because of that.”

Last year, she went to Scripps as a spectator, watching how each speller handled the pressure on stage and enjoying all the support they received from the other participants. This year, Ramakrishan hopes to make friends with the other spellers while making her school, county and family proud.

“I’m proud of myself for coming this far, but I think I hopefully can do better at nationals,” she said. “And make myself proud by achieving something that’s more.”

While she didn’t want to think about winning Scripps, Ramakrishan admitted that she would need to be quick in her spelling and “create her own luck” for it to happen. But if she did emerge victorious, she believes the feeling would be surreal.

“That would be such an awesome feeling in life just to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee,” she said. “It would be such an honor.”

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