As the nation's capital braces for the 97th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee, a local eighth-grader from San Diego, Duaa Ouznali, is gearing up to compete against some of the brightest young minds in the country. According to FOX5 San Diego, the 13-year-old Bright Horizon Academy student claimed her spot in the national competition after winning the San Diego County regional spelling bee with the Russian word "droshky".
Ouznali's victory at the Jackie Robinson Family YMCA on March 6 saw her outspelling over 90 contestants, earning her the opportunity to represent her county at nationals. But as she prepares to take the stage at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in Maryland, this local champion is also making waves for her diverse interests. She's not just a spelling aficionado; "she also practices tae kwon do and enjoys swimming," FOX5 San Diego shares from her biography on the national spelling bee's website.
The competition, which will be streamed on spellingbee.com and BounceXL, involves more than just the live spelling rounds. As reported by the Times of San Diego, spellers like Duaa will be asked to "spell a word in the first round and correctly answer a vocabulary question in the second" during unsociable hours for West Coast viewers, between 5 and 6:25 a.m. PDT. Those who survive these initial stages will then face the rigors of a written test, which helps to whittle down the competition to the top performers.
Despite her competing interests and academic demands, Duaa remains dedicated to her passion for language and storytelling, showing a fondness for writing short stories and learning about languages. "Her favorite animals are cats, and her favorite school subject is math," according to biographical information supplied by bee organisers reported by Times of San Diego. The young scholar has also traveled extensively, visiting countries such as Algeria, France, and Canada, enriching her understanding of different cultures and languages.
