My name is Jaiden Jensen, and I
was born in Santa Clara, Utah. I have always loved to perform! When I was 6
years old, I started dancing. I took classes such as ballet, jazz, and dance
company, and soon after I also started hip hop and tumbling. At 7 years old I
was hired to play the part of a little girl in a national commercial for the
company, Balance of Nature. At 8 years old I began performing with the Hands in
Harmony Carolers, which is an audition-only a cappella group that performs
during the Christmas season. I continued in this group for several years. In 6th grade
I was in my first musical, The Lion King Jr., and in 7th grade
I played the part of Sally in You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown. I
also competed in the Dramatic Arts Festival, performing the song “My New
Philosophy” and came in second place in District in the musical theater
category. Since then, I have played various parts in different shows, including
Bernice in The Musical Comedy Murders of the 1940’s, and SpongeBob
in The SpongeBob Musical. I have been practicing and improving my
performing skills my entire life and would love to use them to represent my
school and region as the Speech and Drama Sterling Scholar! Being Sterling
Scholar will help me accomplish my college and career goals and allow me to use
my talents to make a positive impact on other people!
List up to six activities, honors and awards relating to your category:
*Winner of the Distinguished Young
Women of Utah competition in the areas of Interview, Self-Expression, and Talent
*Performed the lead role of
SpongeBob in The SpongeBob Musical at Snow Canyon High School
*Performed as Dora Bunner (Bunny)
in A Murder is Announced at Snow Canyon High School
*Performed the part of Bernice
in The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940 at Snow Canyon High
School
*Performed in multiple productions
at Snow Canyon High School (musicals, musical revues, straight plays, madrigal
concerts, dance company concerts)
Choose one of the above, describe
it briefly and explain why it was meaningful to you. What did you learn and
accomplish?
This year I had the opportunity to
compete in the Distinguished Young Women of Utah
program. Distinguished Young Women is a National Program that
provides college scholarship opportunities to young women. This program
encourages healthy living, positive values, and individual growth through the
“Be Your Best Self” program, which includes “Be Healthy, Be Ambitious, Be
Involved, Be Responsible, and Be Studious.” In Distinguished Young Women I
competed in the areas of Scholastics, Interview, Talent, Self-Expression, and
Fitness.
This program was meaningful to me
because I was able to develop myself in a variety of ways. In April of 2021 I
competed in the Distinguished Young Women program for Southern Utah. I won in
all five categories (Scholastics, Interview, Talent, Self-Expression, and
Fitness) and was the overall winner, qualifying me to move on to the state
competition that would be held in October 2021. I knew that I had a lot of work
to do to prepare for the State Distinguished Young Women competition, which
included 28 exceptional high school senior girls from across the state who had
also qualified for the state competition. I had six months to prepare and so I
developed goals for each of the areas we would compete in and then followed
through with those goals.
To improve in scholastics, I worked
hard to keep up in my classes in order maintain my 4.0. I also took an ACT
study class and studied five hours a week for five weeks to improve my ACT
score. To improve in Interview and Self-Expression I became more self-aware as
I studied and developed opinions on various topics. I also practiced my
interview skills by participating in several mock interviews. To improve in
fitness, I continued to attend dance, scheduled work out routines on a regular
basis, and practiced the assigned fitness routine. To improve my talent, I
continued in Madrigals and Concert Choir and took private voice lessons,
practicing every week.
My hard work paid off. At the State
competition I was one of the winners in the areas of Interview, Self-Expression,
and Talent and won 1st Runner Up overall! It felt great to win,
but more than that, I am grateful for the growth and confidence I gained
through the process of setting and achieving my goals!
Category Supporting Documents for Speech and Drama
List up to six activities, honors and awards that relate to the leadership qualifications.
*1st Runner-Up
in the Distinguished Young Women of Utah competition
*Student Body
Activities Representative (Executive Council), Snow Canyon High School
*Student Ambassador,
Snow Canyon High School
*Junior Class Student
Council Activities and Assemblies Representative, Snow Canyon High School
*Soprano Section
Leader for Madrigals and member of the Choir Council
*Vice President of the
National Junior Honor Society at Snow Canyon Middle School and member of the
National Honor Society at Snow Canyon High School
Choose one of the activities, honors or awards that relate to the leadership qualification and describe it briefly.
I have been involved with student government ever since elementary school and am currently serving as the Activities Representative on our school’s Executive Council and I absolutely love it! I have spent countless hours a month helping to plan and carry out school activities, assemblies, and fund-raisers. I love decorating the school with posters, participating in as many school activities as I can, and encouraging others to do the same! I show my support for our athletic programs by attending various games and meets. I have attended and cheered on football, basketball, volleyball, and soccer games, as well as wrestling, track, cross country, and swim meets. I feel that I can be a good leader by showing school spirit, dressing up for all the games, and by encouraging our student section to go all out!
As activities representative, I also had the responsibility of overseeing the school’s blood drive. I had no clue what to expect since it was my first time even being at a blood drive! But, with the help of the rest of the council I was able to get lots of people signed up! I assisted in setting up the drive and then helped both students and community members to get checked in to the Red Cross website. The first blood drive went well and the second one was even better! We ended up with so many community members coming to donate that we even had to turn a few people away. Between the two blood drives we were able to collect about 100 pints of blood! I am grateful that I was able to serve my school and my community in this way!
I have learned so many leadership skills in my time serving on various student councils. I recently had the opportunity to go to elementary schools and teach their student council members leadership skills such as gratitude, leading by example, and teamwork! I loved working with those amazing students, and I know they are all going to make amazing leaders in the future!
As part of my student council experience, I have also been involved in many fundraisers to aid students and families and have helped to raise over $30,000 for members of our community. For example, I participated in getting donations from local stores to put on a silent auction for teachers and other adults in the community. With the money earned, the student council was able to shop for Christmas gifts for those who couldn’t afford presents for their families. Our Executive Council is currently working on other fundraisers for the Make-A-Wish foundation. Our goal is to provide a local child, Kyle, with enough money to go to Disney World! We are currently planning fundraisers such as soda bars, car washes, game nights, and benefit concerts to help us achieve our goal. I absolutely love helping my school and community come together to serve!
Leadership Supporting Documents
List up to six activities, honors or awards
that relate to the qualifications for Community Service and/or Citizenship.
*Worked
with the American Red Cross to head up a blood drive at my school
*Collected
donations for the Make-A-Wish foundation for a young girl with cancer and
participated in her princess party
*Performed in my school, church, and community both as a soloist
and with the Snow Canyon High School Madrigals and the Hands in Harmony a cappella
bell choir
*Volunteered
at a local children’s running camp several mornings a week last summer
*Set up and took down United States Flags throughout our
neighborhood for flag-related holidays
*Helped with numerous fundraisers and service projects through
National Junior Honor Society, National Honor Society, and Student Council
Choose one of the activities, honors or awards
that relate to the Community Service/ Citizenship qualification and describe it
briefly.
Please limit your response to 500 words or less.
One way I have given service to my school, church, and community
is through music. I have performed numerous times as a soloist, with small
groups, as part of the Snow Canyon High School Madrigals, and the Hands in
Harmony Carolers (an elite a cappella caroling group that uses handbells and
sign language). I have spent countless hours preparing and performing at church
meetings, funerals, school events, and community events. I have sung the
national anthem at our high school games (football, soccer, volleyball, and
basketball), school assemblies, the National Honor Society induction ceremony,
and at Constitution Day for the city of Santa Clara.
I have performed with the Snow Canyon High School Madrigals at our
local Veterans Home and several retirement centers and nursing homes all
throughout the Christmas season. I also went on two Salt Lake trips with the Madrigals,
and we were able to sing at many venues there. At our first trip (before Covid)
we were able to sing at Shriners Hospital and Hartvigsen Elementary School. This
school specifically enrolls special needs students. Every single student there
had a unique and beautiful spirit. I will always remember the smiles on the
children’s faces as we sang familiar songs of Santa Claus and turtle doves. The
pure joy that radiated from them gave me chills. Being able to serve, even if
it was just through sharing my talents, brought me a strong feeling of peace
and delight.
With the Hands and Harmony Carolers we often sang to people in the hospital and private homes of those who might be celebrating their final Christmas. When Covid hit we were no longer able to do this and so during the shutdown my family put together our own bell group and practiced for several weeks. We then went and visited people in our neighborhood and sang to them outside on their porch, so that we could maintain social distancing. Many people cried when we sang to them and said how much it meant to them. I feel that sharing my talents is a great way to give back to my community!
Community Service Supporting Documents
Describe two or three unique
things about yourself and relate them to your category. If possible, include
challenges you have overcome and describe any distinctive experiences that have
affected you.
I was one of the winners in the categories of interview and self-expression in the state Distinguished Young Women competition. This was quite an accomplishment, considering these were the two categories that I felt were my weakest. Public speaking had been a struggle for me in the past and so I was worried about going through an interview with a panel of judges, and I was especially nervous about standing up in front of a huge crowd of people to deliver a short speech. Even practicing the interview questions was something that I dreaded. I am used to being on stage, and I absolutely love singing and acting in front of an audience, but public speaking is a different story! Despite these challenges, I continued to practice with my parents and mentors. I researched interview tips, studied up on questions that I might be asked, and brushed up on current events. When it came time for the competition, I felt more prepared than ever before. I discovered that an interview is basically just a conversation and public speaking is just like performing on the stage. Participating in this competition helped me learn how to stay calm under pressure. It also helped me to clarify my opinions and know how to deliver my thoughts in a cohesive way. These are skills that will benefit me my entire life!
Another unique thing about myself is that I had the opportunity to play the
role of SpongeBob in my school’s production of The SpongeBob Musical.
This was not the kind of musical I was expecting our school to do my Senior
year, and at first, I was extremely disappointed when it was announced. But not
wanting to miss out on an opportunity to perform I decided to participate
anyway. I didn’t know anything about the musical and so I watched the
production to see what part I wanted to audition for. None of the female roles
seemed to fit me, and so I finally decided just to go ahead and audition for
the lead role of SpongeBob, even though it is typically played by a male. I was
ecstatic when I got the part! This role was so much fun, but it was also
challenging because I am a soprano, and all the songs are written for a tenor.
Singing in the tenor range was harder than I expected, and it really pushed me
to increase my vocal range. It was difficult and took a lot of work and
practice, but it was also very rewarding. I ended up absolutely loving this
musical and we received wonderful feedback from our audience as well! I am so
grateful that I made the decision to participate even when it was challenging
and different than I was expecting!
How do you think your involvement in this category will enrich your life?
I have had many wonderful learning opportunities in
high school and although many were beneficial, some of these talents and skills
will be used for a much longer period of time than others. Music, drama, and
public speaking are talents that can be continually developed and shared
throughout my lifetime, while other activities won’t extend much beyond my high
school years.
I plan on being involved in some aspect of speech and
drama throughout my life, whether it be performing, teaching, or working with
other performers. I have always loved teaching and spending time with children.
I coached tumbling for two years, and taught swimming lessons for one. I would
love to establish a preschool that incorporates music, dance, dramatic play,
and tumbling classes. According to Seneca Academy, “Art instruction helps
children with the development of motor skills, language skills, social skills,
decision-making, risk-taking, and inventiveness.” I hope to always be involved
in the arts, and I want to encourage my future family to do the same.
Another way I can involve speech and drama in my
career is through fitness. I have always been interested in health and physical
fitness and this year I was given the chance to participate in an Internship at
Elevation Fitness, working with and learning about personal trainers. I met so
many incredible people at this gym, some being actors and actresses
participating in the shows at Tuacahn Center for the Arts. Through this
experience I realized that health and drama go hand in hand. Without proper
exercise, whether it be stretching or warming up before a show, or just working
to stay in shape enough to sing and dance at the same time, a performer will
struggle to carry out their performance to the best of their abilities. I would
love to learn more about how to keep myself healthy and also help other
actresses and actors safely perform while staying healthy enough to endure the
challenges many shows can bring!
I plan to stay fit both physically and emotionally and
continued involvement in drama is one way to do that. Drama is a wonderful way
to share feelings, thoughts, and new perspectives. It is a way to help others
connect with a part of themselves through the characters on stage. It can also
be a way to lift and encourage others. I have had so many experiences where I
was able to sing or perform for someone who was struggling or feeling low. It
always brought a smile, not only to them, but to me as well! I have discovered
that as I continue to develop my talents, I have a larger impact on those
around me. I hope to always be able to spread joy and positivity, whether it be
through performing on the stage, helping children develop their own skills in
the arts, helping other actors and actresses in their journey, or encouraging
my future family to develop and share their talents with others!
Video Clips of theatrical productions:
