After acing the words "iterative" and "punctilio" at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., Catherine Wagner returned home to Cary.

Catherine, a 13-year-old who just finished middle school, was the first Wake County student to compete at the national level since 1997.

She didn't make it to the semifinals. Her father, Scott Wagner, did the math and discovered that only 9 percent of first-time competitors advanced.

In an interview, she talked about the tough competition.

Q: Who did you take with you on the expense-paid trip?

A: My mom, dad, brother and I drove up after stopping in the Outer Banks to celebrate my grandmother's 80th birthday.

Q: What was the process for cutting spellers before the semifinals?

A: Round One was a written test on (May 31) where all spellers went into a large ballroom and had to write down 25 words.

There were 275 of us from everywhere Scripps draws from - all over the United States, China, Japan. ...

It was an important round, and the words started out easy but got quite hard.

Then, all of us got to spell for two rounds on stage in front of the cameras.

No matter whether the kids got it right or wrong, everyone got the chance to spell two words in front of a national audience.

From those three rounds, the spellers were cut from 275 to 41.

Of the spellers, 202 of us were first-timers, and only 18 proceeded to the semifinals.

Q: What were the words you got in Rounds Two and Three?

A: I got both of the TV words correct. The words were "iterative" and "punctilio."

Q: What does punctilio mean?

A: Punctilio is a habit or something you do that you make other people do as well. Not in a negative way, but as a simple habit.

Q: Were you more nervous with the TV cameras there?

A: I wasn't that nervous. I tend not to get very nervous.

I just told myself on the written test - I will do my best. It will turn out how it turns out.

In Rounds Two and Three, I was not nervous. While I was sitting on stage, watching the other spellers, I could see the area in front of the stage filled with people with cameras. But when I was spelling, I wasn't really aware of the cameras. It was just the announcer and me.

Q: How did you approach studying when you didn't have a list for the national competition?

A: They did tell us that all of the words would come out of Webster's Third New International Dictionary and Addendum. As a prize for winning the Wake County bee, I received this dictionary to help me study.

(The national bee organizers) gave us a list with some of the words that might be used in Rounds Two and Three, but they don't tell you anything about the written test.

Q: What was your favorite part of the entire national experience?

A: I enjoyed getting up on stage and spelling in front of a national audience. I was glad to get my two minutes of fame.