Girl Born Without Hands Won National Handwriting Competition Because Nothing Can Stop Her

Parents and educators have been worrying about the “dying art” of handwriting for years, as smartphones and laptops have lead some classrooms to spend less and less time on teaching the fine art of writing in cursive.

Sara Hinesley, a third-grade student in Frederick, Md., though, finds writing cursive “kind of easy”, using her cursive skills to win a national handwriting competition. It’s an impressive feat made even more impressive due to the fact that the 10-year old was born without hands.

Hinesley, who writes by holding her pencil between the ends of her arms, was trained in the fine art of penmanship by her teacher and quickly learned to love writing. “She can do just about anything — oftentimes better than me or my husband,” her mother, Cathryn Hinesley, told CNN.

Hinesley entered the 2019 Zaner-Bloser National Handwriting Contest, and the judges were so impressed with her perfect penmanship that she won the Nicholas Maxim Award, which is given to an entrant with a physical, developmental, or intellectual disability. The award comes with a trophy and $500 in prize money as well as $500 in educational materials for her school.

While Hinesley reportedly hasn’t decided what she wants to do with her $500 in prize money, she does hope to inspire other children “who have challenges,” reminding them that in her experience, “if you try your hardest you can do it.”