Congratulations to all of the young women that competed Saturday in the Distinguished Young Women program.

Nineteen young women from area high schools competed for $11,000 in scholarships at the Pickard Auditorium.

Esosa Aghedo was crowned the 2015 Distinguished Young Woman of Dallas County, Sophie Talton was named first runner-up and Mary Stewart was named second-runner up. Aghedo won a $3,000 scholarship, while Talton won a $2,000 scholarship and Stewart won a $1,500 scholarship.

Despite those three winning scholarships, all 19 young women should be proud of themselves. It takes a lot of courage to get in front of an audience and perform. Many of the girls performed talents that included singing and dancing.

The girls compete based on scholastic achievement, interview, fitness, talent and self expression.

The program is a great opportunity for young women to gain confidence by performing in front of a crowd. The interview process will give them great experience in the future when they interview for jobs. It also gives them a chance to make new friends because it features girls from many of the schools in Selma and Dallas County. We look forward to seeing these young women go on to achieve more and represent Selma.