Spelling her last name for a reporter is the easy part for Duaa Ouznali.
At just 13, Duaa has spelled her way through a number of local competitions. And at the most recent San Diego County Spelling Bee, she took first place.
“I was like, did I actually win?” Duaa asked herself when she spelled out the winning word droshky, a public carriage used in Russia. “No way. Like I was like, no way, like no way.”
I asked her what keeps her hooked on spelling.
“I guess probably adrenaline.,” Duaa says. “Especially, you know, when it's when the person before you goes. Because now you're at the front of the line. So if anyone's staring at the line, they're staring at you.”
Sunday she’s taking that adrenaline all the way to Washington, D.C, to the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
“We’re proud to represent the whole San Diego and we're here to support her regardless of the result,” Khelil Ouznali, Duaa’s father says. “But I'm very confident that she'll do her best at least.”
The only downside was that her trip to D.C. would mean she had to miss her middle school graduation.
But her school wasn’t about to let her leave without a celebration. They gave her her own high school send off this week before her travels.
She’s put in the hours and says she’s ready, even if she’s still a little nervous.
And her advice to next kid with big dreams; “I just wanna say don't sweat, just relax,” Duaa says.
Words she’s hoping to remember for herself, too.
