Sixth-grader is a walking encyclopedia

The first thing one notices about Jonathan Dohogne, winner of the St. Mary Cathedral School National Geographic Bee, is his insatiable curiosity.

"We have always just let Jon run with whatever interests him, and his interests have shifted quite frequently," said Jonathan's mother, Kim Dohogne.

Jonathan, a veritable walking encyclopedia, probably could recite at least one "fun fact" about any country on the map and then enter into a discussion about some piece of history related to that area.

Jonathan is in sixth grade now, but his love of learning started much earlier.

"My brother and my sisters were always so smart, and I wanted to be able to be in their conversations, so I just started studying maps," he said.

Jonathan Dohogne, who won a geography bee at his school, poses for a photo with a U.S. map and globe in his home Monday, Feb. 9, 2016 in Cape Girardeau.Fred Lynch

He quickly became a resource for his older siblings as they and their friends would ask him geography questions about places they were learning about in school.

Jonathan remembers sitting in on his older brother's geography bee and almost wanting to shout out the answers.

"The question was, 'What is the capital of Peru,' and I was just thinking, 'Come on, Ben! You can't get this wrong! It's Lima!'" Jonathan recalled.

He was only in first grade at that point.

While maps were Jonathan's first fascination, his interests quickly grew from there.

Jonathan Dohogne, who won a geography bee at his school, poses for a photo with his map of the world and national flags in his home Monday, Feb. 9, 2016 in Cape Girardeau.Fred Lynch

He went on to memorize the flags of the countries, as well.

The unique thing about Jonathan's knowledge, however, is that it is not simply a collection of facts.

He actively learns about history and demonstrates his application of that knowledge.

"At first I just learned, like, the names and shapes of the countries. I really liked the small countries and islands," he said. "I always thought it would be awesome to live on an island. But then I thought, I wonder what goes on inside these shapes?"

His curiosity continued to lead him to explore more.

Jonathan Dohogne, who won a geography bee at his school, poses for a photo with a U.S. map and globe in his home Monday, Feb. 9, 2016 in Cape Girardeau.Fred Lynch

Eventually, his parents got him an interactive globe that told the gross domestic product, language and religion of an area with the press of a button.

"We mostly got [the globe] so it could answer his questions and give us a break!" Jonathan's parents laughed.

While memorization of geography seems to come naturally to Jonathan, he admits the National Geographic Bee had its challenges.

"The hardest part was when there were three of us left, and the questions were getting really hard," he said. "They would try and confuse you, so you had to listen very carefully."

The questions asked during the bee covered a variety of topics under the heading of geography.

They ranged from queries about geographical features, historical events and landmarks to population size and landmass.

But even with the challenges posed by the contest, Jonathan's preparation for it was relatively stress-free.

"Basically, I winged it," he said, laughing.

His plan for preparing for the state level may be slightly more rigorous, which means he might play an hour's worth of geography quiz games on the iPad, rather than 30 minutes.

While Jonathan did express some surprise at being able to win the bee -- naming one of the other contestants as "the smartest kid in school"-- he still is well aware of his own potential.

"I am actually pretty good at things besides geography, like math, so when I grow up I want to be either an astrophysicist, nuclear physicist or geographical physicist -- if that's what they're called," he said.

Jonathan joked with his parents if he ends up winning a Nobel Prize, it will benefit them all.

Jokes aside, though, Jonathan takes his future seriously.

"I did used to want to be a professional baseball player, but I decided that I needed to contribute. That's why I will do something with science," he said.

Until that time, however, Jonathan will continue to be just what he is: a curious boy with a huge appetite for information.