By MOLLY DAVIDSON / Staff Writer

NORTH SHELBY—With the 2015 Distinguished Young Woman of Shelby County title under her belt and high school graduation fast approaching, Brooklyn Holt is ready for the next challenge.

The Oak Mountain High School senior is preparing to start her college career at Auburn University this fall, where she plans to major in sports broadcasting and hopes to join a sorority and march in the Auburn band as a majorette.

“I’ve always been that person who’s always going,” Holt said of her already busy college schedule. “Maybe I’ve just gotten into the routine of it.”

Holt is no stranger to juggling numerous activities. She was the featured twirler at OMHS this past year, an ACT and pre-calculus tutor to her peers and maintained a higher-than-4.0 GPA in a full slate of Advanced Placement and dual enrollment classes at Jefferson State Community College.

“She’s involved in so many different activities,” OMHS guidance counselor Bobby Deavers said, explaining Holt is also an Oak Mountain Master and is in “every honors society you can name.”

In addition to her rigorous academic schedule, Holt held down a job as a hostess at Outback Steakhouse and participated in the Distinguished Young Woman program, which required numerous hours of dedication and community service.

“She said, ‘I want to serve children,’” Holt’s mother, Clarisse Holt, said, explaining Brooklyn Holt’s service project for the Distinguished Young Woman Project was Raise Your Voice for Children. “(She) traveled and put on concerts generating money and gave it to Children’s Miracle Network.”

Brooklyn Holt noted helping children and being a role model as some of the best parts of the Distinguished Young Woman program, along with the confidence and friendships she gained throughout the process.

“Children are definitely the future, and they need a positive role model to look up to,” Brooklyn Holt said. “I met wonderful people… we still keep in touch. It’s definitely a confidence and huge friendship building process.”

Brooklyn Holt’s performance in the classroom and in the Distinguished Young Woman program won her a full scholarship to Auburn University and entrance into the school’s Honors College.

Although Brooklyn Holt is ready to move onto the next step, her OMHS community and family will miss her.

“I’ve never known anybody like her in my entire life,” Clarisse Holt said. “God gave me the biggest gift he could ever give me when he gave her to me.”