By Amanda Hoffmann
Zagorski had made it to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in D.C. for the second time after winning the Long Island Spelling Bee in March. The competition began with nearly 300 entrants, 41 made it to the semifinals and 36 entered the fifth round -- including Zagorski.
"I was pretty nervous up there because a lot of people missed that round and I kinda realized I was probably going to miss my word in that round," said Zagorski, who as an avid reader with a stellar memory, tends to remember words he has come across. "I never saw the word before."
Zagorski said the best part of the competition is meeting peers that share the same love of words. He still keeps in touch with some of the teens he met last year and hopes to continue friendships with contestants he met at this year's bee.
"There were some cool words this year," said Zagorski, "Like urisk, it's a solitary but friendly scottish elf who lives in remote pools and rivers." Zagorski spelt it in the third round.
He said part of the key to winning is reading a lot. Zagorski said his grandparents also write down new words they come across to quiz him. "Part of it is that I visualize the word," said Zagorski. "Some people write it on their hand, but I don't need to do that to visualize the word. Another part of it is just that I have a good memory."
Zagorski said the toughest words for him in the competition are French words, because "they have all those letters and letter combinations that don't make it into everyday English." He said, "they are kind of obscure."
Zagorski was disappointed that he didn't take home the win, but he's already looking ahead and will be celebrating his 14th birthday on June 4.
Next year Zagorski will be entering Oceanside High School and will no longer be eligible to compete in the Scripps bee. He said he'll look into other competitions, but plans to help coach his younger brother, Jason, 11, who also made it to the Long Island Spelling Bee in March.
All this spelling has been useful, Zagorski said, in that the memorization helps with math - which he deems to be his best subject in school. As to whether spelling will be part of his career choice, Zagorski said it's too soon to tell. "I don't have the slightest idea what I want to do when I grow up," said Zagorski.
The Scripps bee was won by Kavya Shivashankar of Olathe, Kan., who spelt "Laodicean," meaning lukewarm or indifferent in religion or politics, for the win. It was the 13-year-old girl's fourth trip to the nationals.
"Most of these kids are very self driven," said Shari Zagorski, Zachary's mother. "They really put their hearts and souls into it. Some kids study four hours a day and some kids, like Zach, four hours a year. "
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