Lexington teen finishes in top 8 in national competition

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) –  Wendy Wei, of Lexington, Ky., was named one of eight finalists in the Distinguished Young Women National Finals competition Saturday night and awarded a $5,000 cash scholarship.

Wei also earned a $1,000 scholastics category award.

Following a selection process that began in her home state of Kentucky, Wei began preparing for the 64th annual scholarship competition. Historically, the competition has taken place in its founding city of Mobile, Ala.

This year, due to COVID-19 safety precautions, the competition was conducted virtually and is being showcased in a free three-night online broadcast at DYWNationalFinals.com.

Wei is a graduate of Paul Laurence Dunbar. In the fall, she will attend Wake Forest University with plans to become a data scientist for the World Health Organization. She is the daughter of Hong Jiang and Qiou Wei.

Destiny Kluck of Georgia was selected as the Distinguished Young Woman of America for 2021 and presented with a $30,000 cash scholarship. Emma Neal of North Carolina was named first runner-up and Annie Zhu of Arizona was selected as second runner-up.

More than $132,000 in cash scholarship was awarded during the three-day virtual competition.

Founded in 1958, Distinguished Young Women is a free program that encourages participants to reach their full individual potential. National sponsors include Barbara Barrington Jones Family Foundation, Mobile County, City of Mobile, Alabama Power Foundation, Shoe Station, Gant Travel Management, Wellington and Bonnie Coffeen, Regions Financial Corporation, Jostens and Alabama Media Group.