Clarke County’s own Distinguished Young Woman, Nya Nobles, will be competing in the state’s Distinguished Young Woman program on July 22-24. Nya is beautiful inside and out and has already obtained thousands in scholarships through the local DYW program.
Although she is sure to do an amazing job at the state competition and does have a goal to place and even win the overall title of Mississippi’s Distinguished Young Woman, Nya feels very blessed with her opportunity and is thankful for the lessons that she has learned through the process.
“Although I want to do the best I can, whether that is winning or top ten, I’m excited just going home with the experience no matter what the results are,” expressed Nya. “Once the program is over, I’m going to work on getting my ACT score higher. I plan to better myself with anything that I can take from the program because I’ve learned a lot through it. I’ve learned a lot from the ‘be your best self’ motto. I learned not to compare myself to other girls. You have to be your best self and not someone else’s best self. Follow your own path that is designed for you. It’s about challenging yourself to be better than you were.”
That lesson will take her far in her future endeavors. Nya has some amazing goals for what she would like to do once she graduates.
“When I graduate, I plan to attend Mississippi State University and get my Bachelor’s Degree in Biochemistry. This way, I can move on to get my dentistry degree and become a dentist,” explained Nya. “One day, I hope to open my own clinic, but to start, I plan to join a clinic just to get the feel of things and get a little experience. Eventually, I hope to open my own dentistry clinic. I’d like to work with both children and adults.”
Not only does Nya have the lessons she has learned through her experience with Distinguished Young Woman to help her achieve her future goals, but she has already accomplished a great deal in just her high school career. She maintains outstanding grades on top of a very busy schedule participating in different extracurricular activities.
“I’m a member of the Big Blue Crew and play saxophone. I’ m the co-captain of the colorguard team, and I’m the co-captain of the Quitman High School varsity cheer team. I’m also a member of the girls powerlifting team. I play many sports, but I love the clubs I’m in because they give me access to different things such as community service. I’m currently the president for Family Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA). I’m the historian for Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA). Also, I’m the vice president of Health Occupation Students of America (HOSA),” stated Nya. “I’m part of many clubs and play multiple sports, but all of them come together to complete a whole person. They give me something to look forward to and things to give me a positive outlook. I encourage anybody, especially young people, to go out and get into different sports and activities because it gives you something to look forward to and something to do other than just school. It can also make you enjoy school more.”
With her busy schedule, Nya has had to learn how to balance her time wisely. She has learned that to get the most out of life, it is important not to procrastinate.
“Do not wait until the last minute to do anything. Whether it’s school work, a project, or something else, don’t wait until the last minute to do it. Especially don’t wait until the last minute if you have many things to do,” advised Nya. “I usually have multiple things that may be happening at the same time, such as writing an essay, doing a community service project, and having a competition together all in one weekend. To be able to enjoy your personal life with friends and family, it’s a lot better to just do everything as it’s handed to you or at least work on it slowly once you get it instead of waiting until the last minute.”
Although she does stay busy with all of her activities, Nya does have some passions outside of school.
“I love baking and cooking,” said Nya. “Cooking is one of my passions.”
She has actually taken her passion for cooking and incorporated it into a service project that she created for school. Mixing her love for cooking with a volunteer opportunity created what is Nya’s favorite volunteer project so far.
“My favorite volunteer thing I’ve done is the nutrition seminar for the early
