For one second grader in a Louisville, Kentucky school, her love of letters has made her the star of the class.
Joyful. It's the word Sosie Smith conquered without hesitation during a class spelling bee.
"She was very excited, but I don't think she'd realized the magnitude of what she'd just accomplished," Tara Smith, her mother said.
Sosie's victory came as a surprise to just about everyone. A girl with special needs, who received no special attention for the big day and still managed to win.
"She keeps hitting these milestones and exceeding my expectations," her mom said.
Sosie is one of 13 students in Christian Academy's Providence School, which specializes in kids with down syndrome, but a majority of the time, her day is spent with other second grade students.
"There will be times where being included is painful, and glorious at different times, but we want her to have that opportunity just like anybody else," Steve Smith, Sosie's dad said.
"The good news was she won the spelling bee. The bad news was I got a packet of 450 words we have to now focus on," Tara Smith said.
The competition isn't over yet.
"We are definitely practicing a lot and very excited. I'm way more nervous than she is," Tara Smith smiled.
Both Sosie and her classmate Quenton Horton now advance onto the Regional Spelling Bee next week in Louisville, hosted by the Association of Christian Schools International.
"All the other kids that are going to be at this spelling bee, I'm sure are going to be a little shocked at first and parents as well. I'm just hoping to open their eyes a little bit and enlighten them of the capabilities that are there," her mom said. "She's won in my books, already."