Taylor to compete for Distinguished Young Woman title
Distinguished Young Woman of Neshoba County Maggie Taylor says traveling to Meridian for the DYW state competition will not only be a great community service opportunity, but a memorable experience whether she wins or loses.
“I’m looking forward to meeting new people, and I get to stay with a host family in Meridian, which is exciting,” Taylor said. “I can’t wait to see the service opportunities there, and from what I’ve seen, it’s been a really cool experience for those who were there before me.”
Taylor, a rising senior at Neshoba Central High School, won the local Neshoba DYW competition in February. She is the daughter of Mark and Amy Taylor and credits her DYW inspiration to her grandmother, Laura Kilpatrick (Neshoba County’s first Junior Miss), and her sister, who finished Second Alternate in the 2020 DYW competition.
She said she leaves for Meridian on July 9 and will participate in daily activities with her host family along with practicing and rehearsing for the competition.
“The state competition is on a much larger scale than the Neshoba program,” Taylor said. “There are around 30 girls competing in this and it spans over 3 days. The girls are split into two groups - the first group competes on the first night, the second group on the second night, and the finalists compete on the third night.”
Taylor will face the same categories in this competition as she did during Neshoba’s program: Scholastic (25% of her score), Judge’s Interview (25% of her score), On-Stage Talent (20% of her score), Physical Fitness Routine (15% of her score), Self-Expression, and On-Stage Question (15% of her score).
She said her on-stage talent will also be the same as the local competition, which was “Rondo Alla Turca” by Mozart on the piano.
“Self-expression will be pretty much the same, but my fitness routine will be slightly longer and more difficult considering the higher level of the state competition,” Taylor said. “Whether I win or lose, this will be a great experience representing Neshoba County.”
Christy Barrett, program chairman for the Distinguished Young Woman program in Neshoba County, said Taylor is well prepared for the competition and has been working hard with her fitness routine and interview preparation.
“I hope Maggie has a great and fun week and remembers to be her best self,” Barrett said. “When she won the local competition, we knew she would do everything she needed to prepare herself not only for the state program but also for being an ambassador for Neshoba County in her role as DYW. She’s going to do her very best in Meridian and will represent us well.”
The State Distinguished Young Women program starts July 13th and runs through Saturday, July 15th.
The first two nights are the preliminary competitions. Maggie is performing her talent on Thursday night. On Friday night she is doing her self-expression with on-stage question and her fitness routine.
Saturday, the Top 10 will repeat all three categories.
All shows start at 7:30 and are at the Evangel Temple in Meridian.
For more information about the Distinguished Young Woman program, visit www.distinguishedyw.org.