A leap of faith

It was just another rehearsal at Birmingham Ballet when a chance conversation sparked a desire in Hannah Walter. It was the desire to become the title holder in the Distinguished Young Women program.

“One of the girls I really looked up to at the studio, Gina Maiola, began talking about the program,” said Walter, who watched her friend eventually advance in the program to win Jefferson County in 2012. 

The seed was planted.

It was then that Walter’s mother, Oeith Walter, told her daughter of her own experience with the program, formerly known as America’s Junior Miss, as a teen growing up in Clarke County, Alabama.

“She opened up to me about her experience and what a great time she’d had in the program,” said Walter, adding that her mother won for overall academics and was named second runner-up overall. 

For Walter, enrolling in the program was jumping headfirst into an experience unlike anything she’d ever done before.

While Walter was comfortable commanding the stage as a dancer (this past December she performed as the Snow Queen and the Spanish soloist in Birmingham Ballet’s “The Nutcracker”), it did not come easily to be the center of attention when the focus was on verbal self-expression.

“Getting the chance to speak on stage with confidence was great,” said Walter, who admits she stumbled during the self-expression portion, leading her to believe she’d lost her shot at the title. “Throughout the interview process I became more comfortable with myself and who I am. In the end, that translated not only on stage but also in the friendships I made with girls I never would have met otherwise.”

After being named the 2015 Distinguished Young Woman of Jefferson County, Walter went on to compete for the state title in Montgomery this past January.

While the outcome was not what she’d hoped, Walter still speaks highly of the experience.

“Hey, I can now do push-ups!” she said, divulging one of her other reasons for entering the program. “I really wanted to win the fitness preliminary. Going in, my family loved picking on me, saying I couldn’t do so much as one push-up.”

To those young women who scoff at the notion of such a program, who feel that they are too shy or not talented enough or not pretty enough to compete, Walter offered this:

“This program is definitely for them,” she said. “It is all about who the girl truly is and how she showcases that to the community. There are no tiaras.”

In July, Walter will pass the torch to the new Distinguished Young Woman of Jefferson County before she heads down to Auburn, where she intends to major in microbiology and foster a career in genetic counseling.