Although Portage High School is filled with accomplished young men and women, few have distinguished themselves as much as senior Rachel Stewart. In fact, Stewart was recognized as the star among stars last spring when she won the PHS Distinguished Young Woman Competition, formerly known as Junior Miss.
“I was so surprised when I won; I did not see it coming at all,” she said. “I made quite a few mistakes at the finals, I had a little blunder on my self-expression, so I didn’t think I would be honorable enough to receive the winning title, but it was great.”
Although Stewart was ecstatic and honored to win the DYW crown, she took more from the competition than just the scholarship.
“I think it made it so special because there were about 30 of us and I’ve had classes with some of these girls and I had never talked to them before,” she said. “Just in those four weeks that we worked together to get the choreography down, I made friendships that I never thought that I would have with these girls.”
Stewart manages to balance three time consuming activities by participating in theater, dance and cheerleading in addition to academics and several other extra-curricular and community involvements. She will play the female lead role of Pamela Edwards in the PHS Fall Play, “The 39 Steps,” which debuts on Friday night.
“My favorite part of being involved with theatre is just being able to be someone that you’re not,” Stewart said. “Just being able to get up and perform and be in front of everyone.”
Although she has a love for all of her hobbies and activities, Stewart said that dancing is her biggest passion and what she plans to study in college next year.
“You have to be able to put your own passion into it, your own style, because if everyone just did it exactly the same, you wouldn’t be your own dancer,” she said.
Stewart also volunteers for the Portage Parks Department every Sunday, tutors at the Boys and Girls Club in her free time and is a member of both World Language Honor Society and All-State Choir. She is the Historian of Choraliers and serves as the President of Thespian Club, Advanced Mix Choir and Advanced Women’s Choir.
Although Stewart has found success in DYW, theater and many of her other endeavors, not everything has come easily. She was not accepted into National Honor Society when she applied her junior year, but that only made it even sweeter when she found out that she was going to be inducted this year.
“I was so excited because my junior year I didn’t have enough community service, so I went back at it senior year and over the summer I worked really hard to help my community out a lot more,” Stewart said. “I’m excited that I was lucky enough to be inducted this year.”
Stewart said that her parents have helped her manage everything that she does and been very supportive of the fact that she is not home in time for dinner every night. She also identified one student and one teacher that have made an impact on her.
“I have been really inspired by Emily Evans because she does so much and she manages it so well,” Stewart said. “Her time management is awesome. Being her best friend, I have someone to look up to.
“[Auditorium Director] Mr.[Kevin] Giese is my favorite teacher in the school. He does so much for the school and he doesn’t get recognized for it because it’s always behind the scenes. He is a great man and I definitely look up to him.”