Education

See the first African American to win National Spelling Bee overwhelmed with Scholarship offers

aila Avant-Garde, a 14-year-old from Harvey, Louisiana, is the first African American to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee, making history in the process.

Since then, she has received full-ride scholarships from colleges all throughout the US.

After accurately spelling the word “Murraya,” a particular kind of tree, in the decisive round, Zaila claimed the illustrious victory.

She defeated 208 competitors from 5 different nations. Zaila soon started getting full-ride scholarships one after the other.

Southern University President Ray L. Belton took to Twitter, “I am pleased to announce that @Southernu_BR is offering #ZailaAvantgarde a full scholarship and “#Zaila Day” at SU, part of the nation’s only #HBCU system.

Our student leaders, faculty, and alumni look forward to meeting with you. We welcome you to the #JaguarNation!”

Louisiana State University President William Tate also wrote on Twitter, “Zaila Avant-garde @basketballasart performed at the highest level in the National Spelling Bee.

Your academic performance reflected scholarship first! You modeled intellectual excellence.

@LSU_Honors awaits. I write to offer you a full scholarship to attend LSU. Here for you!”

READ ALSO: See the first black soccer player to play at the international level, Andrew Watson

Louisiana Community and Technical College System posted on its Facebook page, “In celebration of her incredible performance at the National Spelling Bee

Zaila Avant-garde will get a full scholarship from LCTCS to attend any community or technical institution in Louisiana.

We think you’d do well in one of our programs, like aeronautical technology,”

Zaila, who is also the holder of three basketball-related Guinness World Records, has indicated that she is interested in playing college basketball at Harvard University.

She wants to work in gene editing or neuroscience. She claims that she would like to either play for the NBA or work for NASA one day.

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