Teen gets top rating by a Nevadan in Junior Miss finals

Chantel Hopper, 18, became Nevada's Junior Miss in April, competed in the 50th annual America's Junior Miss National Finals on June 30 and walked away with $21,000 in scholarship money as the second runner-up. Chantel is the first Nevada Junior Miss to place in the competition in 30 years.

"It's pretty cool," says Chantel, who feels proud she represented her state so well.

The 2007 graduate of The Meadows School was unfazed by the short amount of time she had to prepare for the finals in Mobile, Ala.

"There was so much going on it didn't seem out of the ordinary," says Chantel, who also was preparing for graduation and a spring musical at the time. "I'm usually a very busy person," she adds.

Chantel won $17,000 for being named the second runner-up, and was awarded $4,000 in the preliminary rounds of the competition. She received $1,000 scholarships for the scholastic, interview, fitness and talent preliminary categories. Fifty contestants, all college-bound high school graduates, competed in the finals, which was won by Nora Ali of Minnesota. All scholarship winnings can be used only for educational purposes.

She first considered applying for America's Junior Miss competition two years ago, because the competition is "a scholarship program not a pageant."

"I've never really been into pageants, just dance competitions," says Chantel, who won an international dance competition in Australia in January. The scholarship program appealed to her because participants are judged on their academics.

"The winner is going to Harvard, the first runner-up is going to Princeton," says Chantel, who mentions that instead of sashes or crowns the girls received medallions.

While in Mobile for two weeks leading up to the preliminaries and finals, the Junior Miss contestants participated in a variety of activities including a softball game at Hank Aaron Stadium, a line dancing party, and an oyster eating contest, where Chantel ate a raw oyster for the first time.

"Never again," she says. "I tried it for the experience."

The girls also worked on two houses for Habitat for Humanity.

At the competition, Chantel was surprised when she did so well in the preliminary rounds, particularly the interview category, which was a "very intense" 10-minute session with the five-judge panel.

"They really wanted to get to know you as a person," she says.

For the talent portion of the competition, Chantel performed a lyrical dance routine.

"I'm proud of my performance of my routine," says Chantel, who was able to practice her routine only twice while in Mobile.

Chantel loves dancing because she can "express myself in so many different ways."

"I really think the discipline and work ethic can apply to my life and will help me to be successful in other things," she says.

Chantel says her experience in the program was "completely more than I expected."

"One of the best experiences of my life. I'm so happy I did it," she continues. "It's something I'll always remember."

Chantel will attend Duke University in the fall where she plans to major in molecular biology and Spanish. She also plans on trying out for the dance team in September.

If you know of a worthy candidate for this column, mail information to Youth Spotlight, Las Vegas Review-Journal, P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125-0070, or send faxes to 383-4676.