eric yang, geography champ

You thought we were only about the spelling bees? Nope. We run geography bees too. Yesterday in Washington, 13-year-old Eric Yang of Colony, Texas beat out nine other kids in the finals to win the National Geographic Bee: Q: Which state has best geography whiz? A: Texas.

Question: Timis County shares its name with a tributary of the Danube and is located in the western part of which European country? Do you know the answer? Eric did. It's Romania. His opponent, 14-year-old Arjun Kandaswamy of Beaverton, Oregon, incorrectly answered "Hungary." And that's how you win it!

Eric walked away with the top prize of a $25,000 college scholarship. Runner-up Arjun took home a $15,000. My favorite quote from this story actually comes from Arjun, who says he wants to break the stereotype that "geography nerds" only "study all day" -- a common misperception about geography nerds, for sure. You show them, Arjun.