An exceptional young woman who cemented herself in the history books has a bright future ahead.

The saying goes, hard work pays off, and Zaila Avant-garde has taken that to the max.

At 18, Avant-garde is already a National Spelling Bee winner, a best-selling author of multiple books, and a two-time Guinness World Records winner, among other accomplishments.

At the age of 14 in 2021, Avant-garde became the first African American to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee .

"One of the motivations that I had was sort of knowing the history of African Americans in spelling bees, and I definitely sort of wanted to be the first African American to win," Avant-garde told 11 News.

With the help of two tutors and a program, she studied 13,000 words for seven hours a day, leading up to the com

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