Chester's Melody Colonel wins honor at Distinguished Young Women pageant

Chester High School senior Melody Colonel has won the "Most Spirited" award at the 2021 Distinguished Young Women of Illinois pageant.

Colonel, the daughter of Steve and Sue Colonel of Chester, joined about 100 girls from across Illinois who entered the preliminary round of competition, which included judging in the areas of academics, talent, fitness, self-expression and a personal interview.

The organization Distinguished Young Woman was founded in 1958 by the Mobile, Alabama Jaycees as an outgrowth of its popular Azalea Trail Maid Program. Originally called America's Junior Miss program, Distinguished Young Women was created as a means to meet the need for higher education scholarships for young American women.

Colonel was one of 17 finalists who went on to compete in the finals the week of Sept. 9-12.

"I was really excited about the entire experience," Colonel said. "I had been told that it was not uncommon for girls from southern Illinois to make it to finals so I was glad that I did!"

For winning the Spirit Award, Colonel received a medal and $100 cash, along with a nice shirt, a beach towel and a drawstring bag.

The only disappointment was that the competition had to be held virtually instead of in-person.

"The finals should have been a wonderful four days in Chicago where all of us finalists would meet and spend time together learning from each other," Colonel said.

Still, "The overall experience was fantastic," she said. "It would have been better if it had been live, but it was still a great opportunity."

The finalists competed in talent competitions, self-expression activities, a fitness routine, interviews, and lots of socializing opportunities.

For her talent, Melody sang, "The Wizard and I" from "Wicked." She recorded her performance and sent it to the judges on line.

The academics portion of the pageant was conducted by sending a full transcript of grades and academic accomplishments. Currently, Colonel is #1 in her class.

The self-expression interview was via Zoom, with the judges watching her response live. The judges emailed contestants their question two hours prior to the interview.

The finalists finally had the chance to be time together in Chicago where they learned and performed their fitness routines. The 17 girls were divided into three groups and worked on their routines - which gave each girl a chance to solo.

In addition to offering the potential for young women to win college scholarships, the program also allows young women to prepare for success in life after high school through a series of Life Skills workshops. Candidates learn how to conduct a business interview and to speak with confidence, effectively conveying their thoughts and opinions and to believe that their thoughts and opinions are worth of being heard.

This program is one of the oldest and largest scholarship programs in the nation for college-bound high school seniors and is free to enter.

Since 1958 the program has awarded $112 million dollars in cash scholarships at local, state and national levels. In addition, participants are then eligible for college-granted scholarships from more than 100 colleges and universities across the United States.

"It was somewhat of a disappointment to have most of the pageant conducted virtually, but it was to be expected as the coronavirus is a serious disease and spreads easily," Colonel said. "It was still a lot of fun and a great experience for all of us girls who were in the competition.

"The entire experience was really something to look forward to during quarantine. As I got to know the other girls competing, I became even more excited and couldn't wait to meet them in person when we did the fitness routines in Chicago."