After it was announced on Wednesday evening that she was one of the 45 finalists for the 2016 Scripps National Spelling Bee, 14-year-old Afua Ansah basked in the spotlight.<\/p>\n
In front of the stage, holding her nation\u2019s flag, she politely answered questions from reporters after being crowned as Ghana\u2019s first ever finalist. Afua, a native of the Ghanaian capital of Accra, is experiencing America for the first time, just as the Spelling Bee is experiencing a Ghanaian finalist for the first time.<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”Igs9ZfYmCXbxT3mIUXtiH6F9gU6gKVmC”]\u201cIt felt incredibly exciting, it was beyond my wildest dreams, to finally make it on my first try,\u201d Afua said. \u201cIt has been quite intense because we have been working on the word list for quite some time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joined by friends, coaches and her sponsor, Afua relished the attention as her home nation will be watching and cheering her on.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am feeling very proud to be doing this on behalf of my country,\u201d Afua said. \u201cI feel like an ambassador of Ghana so I am proud to carry the flag of my country at the finals.\u201d<\/p>\n
What Afua has already been able to accomplish has been against the odds.<\/p>\n
Ghana has one of the worst female literacy rates in the world at 71.4 percent.<\/p>\n
Afua\u2019s coach Emmanual Afful hopes that Afua\u2019s success in the Bee is something that can inspire their African nation.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a very proud moment for me and I believe it has happened because of the years of hard work and determination,\u201d Afful said. \u201cI can\u2019t explain how happy I am, but I am very proud.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe thing I told her is that, \u2018Children in America are no different than children around the world,\u2019\u201d he continued. \u201cThe only difference is we are poorer at reading and writing. And so I posed a challenge to her to read, study, ask question and be curious and you\u2019ll be there and that is exactly what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
After nearly acing her written exam on Tuesday, Afua easily spelled \u201chauberk\u201d and \u201csenescent\u201d on Wednesday. She was one of 177 to spell both words correctly Wednesday, but based on examination of spellers on Tuesday, she earned the second-highest score going into Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve already seen them, they are familiar words to me,\u201d Afua said of senescent and hauberk.<\/p>\n
Afua, and the other 44 finalists, will take the stage at 10 a.m. Eastern, or 2 p.m. Ghana Time, on Thursday. The beginning of the finals will be televised on ESPN2 and continued at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN.<\/p>\n
Afua said when she returns the Ghana, she looks forward to sharing the experience with her friends and family.<\/p>\n
During her time in Washington, Afua said she has gotten to visit a number of monuments and the Smithsonian Zoo. Another thing that awed Afua was the Capital Wheel; a large Ferris wheel along the Potomac, just outside the Spelling Bee\u2019s hotel.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t have those in Ghana,\u201d she said. \u201cWe tried it and it was awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was an experience that needed the help of sponsors, and Afua said she\u2019s appreciative to them.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Ghana doesn\u2019t have much of sponsorship as it does here, so people don\u2019t consider it so much so making it here is a big thing already,\u201d Afua said. \u201cI have gotten some calls from my country, we see you here, we see you on the website.\u201d<\/p>\n
One thing Afua has in common with many other spellers is her love of music.<\/p>\n
Afua said her favorite artists are Adele, Beyonce and Taylor Swift.<\/p>\n
According to a survey of spellers, Taylor Swift and Adele are the two most popular artists among spellers.<\/p>\n
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\nSource: NBC26<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
After it was announced on Wednesday evening that she was one of the 45 finalists for the 2016 Scripps National Spelling Bee, 14-year-old Afua Ansah basked in the spotlight. In front of the stage, holding her nation\u2019s flag, she politely answered questions from reporters after being crowned as Ghana\u2019s first ever finalist. Afua, a native […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":217186,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n