Watch: Vishnu Nistala Discusses Favorite Words, Aviation & Spelling Bees

Vishnu Nistala made it of the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

He outlasted more than 200 of the best spellers in the country and survived a difficult written test and two nerve-wracking rounds of live spelling on national television. He was the final Ohioan to be eliminated from the bee.

And he did all of this the same week he lost his grandmother, the woman who taught him to read.

Vishnu -- who just graduated from eighth grade at -- talks about this in an interview with Mentor Patch, as well as:

• his favorite word he learned while preparing for bee
• his enthusiasm for aviation
• how many hours of studying it took each day to make it to finals
• what his life will be like after the bee.

Vishnu and his family also wanted to extend their thanks and appreciation to Mentor Schools and the community as a whole for all of their support.