Meet the Sioux Falls teen who won $20,000 in national poetry competition

Rahele Megosha speaks with a calm, even tone, even when she has just won $20,000.

Megosha, a senior at Washington High School, won the national Poetry Out Loud competition Thursday night. She beat out eight other finalists from across the nation with her performance of three poems.

“I am kind of still in shock,” Megosha said Friday. “I’m waiting for someone to call and tell me it’s a mistake.”

Megosha is the first South Dakotan to earn the national title in the annual spoken word competition, said her teacher and oral interpretation coach Michelle McIntyre, and both hope she won’t be the last.

“If she chooses to do something, she wants it to be in a way not just that she succeeds but that she opens the door for someone else,” McIntyre said. “She always comes back to, ‘I might be the first that did this, but I don’t want to be the last.’ ”

Megosha got interested in poetry as a kid watching her older sister perform in speech, debate and theater. She recommended Megosha get involved in the arts too.

“Through her, I kind of found my way of discovering what I like,” she said.

And one of the things she liked was poetry.

Megosha not only participated in Poetry Out Loud but also began writing her own poetry this year after being inspired by that experience.

In the national competition Thursday, she performed three poems:

• “I Am Learning to Abandon the World” by Linda Pastan.
•  “Fairy Tale With Laryngitis and Resignation Letter” by Jehanne Dubrow.
• “Breakfast” by Mary Lamb.

All nine finalists got to perform two poems. Only the top three got to perform their third piece.

When they announced Megosha’s name as the winner, McIntyre watched the looks on the faces of her student’s family as they celebrated. She’d coached two of Megosha’s older siblings and gotten to know the family over the years.

“One of the best moments of last night was being able to see her mother’s reaction … that was really meaningful for me to get to see a really good family have that wonderful moment to celebrate together,” McIntyre said.

She felt a sense of “mom pride” herself, she said.

As for Megosha, “it’s been a trip,” she said.

She’s going straight into graduation this weekend, and then she’s hoping to use some of her winnings to have a little fun before she goes on to attend Columbia University in New York City on a full-ride scholarship in the fall.

“I’m gonna buy shoes,” she said with a laugh. “What is $20,000 if you don’t have a little fun with it.”