Senior Alexis Crawford has earned the title of Distinguished Young Woman of Lowell. But what is Distinguished Young Woman?
Distinguished Young Women is a scholarship program for girls who are high school seniors. But when asked to go in depth, Alexis said “A Distinguished Young Woman is someone who knows their self-worth, carries themselves with their chin high, is educated, sticks to their morals, and is an advocate for change.” The mission of Distinguished Young Women is to empower young women to develop their full potential.
During the competition, there is a talent portion and a self expression portion. For the talent portion, competitors have 90 seconds to share a passion through presentation or a performing art. For Alexis’ talent, she played an excerpt on flute and tenor saxophone to showcase her flexibility with instruments. There is also a self-expression part of the competition, where the girls have an opportunity to express their views. For her question, which was “What was one time you encountered a hardship and how did it define you?” Alexis said she spoke about her setback in swim when she injured her shoulder. She said the setback ignited another fire in her to push harder once she got back in the pool.
The exact amount of money Alexis will be receiving is not yet known, but the funds will go towards simple things needed for college. She plans to attend Indiana University Bloomington and acquire a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry. Winning first, Alexis gets to attend the state competition on February 14th & 15th.
To earn the title of Distinguished Young Woman, a competitors need to gather at a location, depending on your representative, to practice for the program. According to Alexis, “Usually, there are multiple practices for the program to rehearse and learn the fitness routine.” She said this year, they showed up around 2 hours earlier and learned everything in the one day. The girls are evaluated under different categories. Scholastic, 25%; Interview, 25%; Talent, 20%; Self-Expression, 15%; Fitness, 15%. Runners up in the competition are Kathryn Haas and Maya Rangel.
