Kate Miller (Speller 232) is notable for how she spells on stage -- she places her fingers on an imaginary keyboard and types her words in the air.
Kate, an Abilene, Texas eighth grader, said she's an auditory, visual and kinesthetic learner -- so it helps bring the words she's spelling to memory to combine as many sentences as she can.
This is the third time Kate's been to the Bee, but the first time she's made it to the Semifinals.
"It's an ineffable feeling," she said. "It's all I wanted for the last three years."
On stage, Kate correctly spelled "duello," the rules of combat between two persons.
Kate isn't sure how she feels about her performance on the computerized test. But she feels "soothed."
"I don't compete against my friends. I compete against the dictionary and fate and chance," she said. "This is heaven for me."
