Zaila Avant-garde, the first Black American contestant to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee, was offered a full scholarship to Louisiana State University.
LSU President William F. Tate IV tweeted the offer to the 14-year-old champ saying, “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!”
Avant-garde, who is from Harvey, Louisiana, competed against 208 contestants from five countries to win the championship Thursday night, by correctly spelling the word murraya, a type of tree.
“It’s kind of like a dream come true because I’ve been working for that goal for like two years, and to finally have it is the best possible outcome,” she told CBS.
She also said she wasn’t nervous about the spotlight and intense pressure of the Bee; she worked up to seven hours a day to practice spelling prior to this year’s event.
Avant-garde’s win was an incredible feat, but spelling is just a hobby for her. She has appeared in television commercials with NBA star Steph Curry and recently told CNN that she wants to play basketball at Harvard University, and then maybe work for NASA or coach in the NBA.
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