Senior Iris Xue won $7,400 in scholarships and earned the titles of First Alternate and Overall Scholastics, as well as the Self-Expression Preliminary Award, at Mississippi’s Distinguished Young Women competition on July 15.
DYW is a national program that gives scholarship opportunities based on young women’s outstanding talents and academic achievements. Xue said the program was “an excellent way to challenge myself to things I never fully explored” and she “definitely spent almost every day thinking or preparing” for the competition.
Xue said she first heard about DYW through MSMS counselor Heath Stevens.
“I think it is a fantastic opportunity for students to earn scholarships, so that is why I recommended this for Iris,” Stevens said. “I’m very proud of her, [and I’m] glad she’s representing herself well.”
Each DYW category showcases the entrants’ talents and well-roundedness. The competition consists of five different categories including interview, scholastics, talent, fitness and self-expression. Interview and scholastic achievement are scored at 25%, talent is 20%, and fitness and self-expression are 15%. Xue won overall scholastic, which was determined before the competition and based on ACT scores, transcripts and extracurriculars. She also won the self-expression preliminary, which is an onstage question-and-answer event.
Xue said though she never participated in a program like DYW before, she was open to improving herself in the different categories, especially Talent and Fitness.
Xue said DYW was a life-changing experience and recommended any girl in the junior class to apply to the event, no matter how far they think they’ll go in the competition.
“To girls who are interested in DYW already, I would advise them to start preparing early through small actions because everything [they] do has a purpose in it,” Xue said.
