Press release from Distinguished Young Women of Buncombe County:
Olivia Lang of Nesbitt Discovery Academy participated in the Distinguished Young Women of North Carolina Scholarship Program in Greensboro, NC Jan 27-28, 2023. Miss Lang, the Distinguished Young Woman of Buncombe County for 2023 received awards in Talent, Fitness, and was named 2nd runner up at the 64th annual program.
Miss Lang’s state awards earned her $3,100 in cash scholarships for college, which she will add to the $2,250 in cash scholarships she earned at the local Buncombe County program. She is a competitive dancer at Asheville Dance Theater, involved with Yearbook Club, Habitat for Humanity, Youth volunteer Organization club, and Girl Up Club at NDA. She has also served as a NDA Student Ambassador. She received a Start Witness Award at 2020 Mock Trial Competition and attended NC Governor’s School in Summer 2022. Miss Lang plans on acareer in dance or art therapy and is planning on attending UNC Chapel Hill after graduation. She is the daughter of Janine and Whit Lang of Black Mountain, NC.
Participants are evaluated in the categories of Scholastics (25%), Interview (25%), Talent (20%), Fitness (15%), and Self-Expression (15%). Scholarships were awarded in each category in addition to overall finalists and the North Carolina. In addition to cash scholarships, participants are eligible for many college granted scholarships. Participants in the state program spent the week leading up to the final program nights in Greensboro, NC, where they participated in community service activities, gave presentations to local elementary students, and participated in several life skills workshops.
Throughout the year, Miss Lang will serve as a role model to young people by spreading the program’s national outreach message of “Be Your Best Self.” The outreach program is designed to encourage self-esteem and excellence in all young people through its five principles: Be Healthy, Be Involved, Be Studious, Be Ambitious, and Be Responsible.
Buncombe County’s first program was the Class of 1985. Since the program began, the program has had over 600 participants from every public and private high school in Buncombe County and has awarded over $150,000 to college bound high school senior girls. Thirty three of our 39 local representatives have received additional scholarship monies at the state level and 6 of those young women were named the state representative, including Amy Young, the 1987 local and state representative (now an actress using the stage name Bellamy Young), and Christina Maxwell, who was named the Distinguished Young Woman of America for 2012.
Any young woman who is a senior in high school is eligible to participate in the program. The Buncombe Co. program is open to any young woman who is a resident of Buncombe county and occurs in the fall of their senior year. Rehearsals begin in the summer between their junior and senior year of high school. Any young women interested in participating can sign up by clicking the “sign up” or “join us” on www.distinguishedyw.org.
For more information on Distinguished Young Women of Buncombe County please contact Anna Whisnant, Co-Chairman (828-712-7669); Buncombe@DistinguishedYW.org.
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