Zaila hopes to go to Harvard one day besides playing in the WNBA, and wants to be an NBA coach and a NASA scientist.ĮSPN’s Amy Goldstein contributed to this report.Zaila Avant-garde, a 14-year-old from New Orleans, won the 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee Thursday night by correctly spelling the word "murraya.” Zaila becomes the first African American national champion in the spelling bee’s history. We asked her how many words she could do in the spell-off, and the range is 16-18 and up to 30 – if she rattles off letters really fast. She has been prioritizing spelling for two years and has placed in the top 10 in several feeder bees such as North South Foundation, SpellPundit, South Asian Spelling Bee and Words of Wisdom. ![]() “For spelling,” Zaila said, “I usually try to do about 13,000 words, and that usually takes about seven hours or so.” Zaila says that winning the bee is cooler than making it to the WNBA because of her hard work in preparation for the competition. “Basketball started when I was 5 years old and the reason was not because it interested me, but it interested my parents to get me not bouncing around the house causing trouble,” she told ESPN. Still, basketball was not always her first love. She hopes to play for the Minnesota Lynx someday. Yes, Zaila dreams of making it to the WNBA like her idols Maya Moore and Diana Taurasi. Making it to the WNBA would be cool, but … They share a tutor, Cole Shafer-Ray, a 20-year-old Yale student who was the 2015 Scripps runner-up, and practiced together virtually before the tournament. The two skillful spellers actually knew each other before the bee. When it came down to Zaila’s winning word, she was up against Chaitra Thummala, a 12-year-old speller from Frisco, Texas, who had just misspelled the compound word “neroli oil,” making her the runner-up. She studied and prepared for the bee with other Scripps finalists Most basketballs dribbled by one person simultaneously (six).Most basketball bounces in 30 seconds (four basketballs).Most bounced balls juggled in one minute (four balls).Zaila currently holds three Guinness World Record titles: During the coronavirus pandemic, Zaila and her grandfather, a retired physics professor, studied math, physics, scientific thinking and reasoning for six to nine hours a week. Zalia says she likes it because it’s flexible with her busy schedule and allows her the comfort of learning at home with her family, including parents Alma Heard and Jawara Spacetime. She’s been home-schooled her entire life. But who was she before becoming the 2021 spelling champion? Here are a few things you should know about her: She’s home-schooled Zaila has undoubtedly been turned into a celebrity following the big win and has appeared on Good Morning America, the Today Show and CBS This Morning. All she needed was that name of origin before rapidly spelling it and winning the bee. ![]() Zaila made the connection to actor Bill Murray, reminiscing about listening to the Lost in Translation movie soundtrack as a child. “Does this word contain the English name ‘Murray,’ which could be the name of a comedian?” she asked the judges, who chuckled in response. Zaila Avant-garde ✨ #SpellingBee finalist □ Guinness World Record holder.
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