A random number appears on her phone screen, probably a telemarketer. In the brief moments it takes to decide whether or not to answer the unknown caller, senior Nayely Vallejo recognized the number as one from Burmington, Alabama, the city where the Woman’s Missionary Union headquarters is located. As Vallejo began to connect the dots, she calmed herself down enough to make her “hello” understandable and heard a single “congratulations” on the other line. She had been recognized as one of four National Acteens Panelists across the country.

National Acteens Panelist is a recognition given to usually six juniors or seniors in the country who exhibit extraordinary depth in their love for Christ in their church and community. Acteens itself is a missions organization, ran by the Woman’s Missionary Union that promotes the mission’s lifestyle by teaching and exposing young women to mission work.

“[Acteens is an] organization for church girls to get together and help out with the community, and we get to learn about God and everything, and we will do some fun things together,” Vallejo said.

Vallejo applied to become a National Acteens Panelist last December, and she found out that she won on Jan. 14. Along with three other girls, Vallejo is the only one from Texas to earn this title. But before her title was secured, Vallejo had her doubts about being chosen.

“I didn’t think I was gonna make it,” Vallejo said. “I had doubt because I turned in my application late and didn’t have one of my letters of recommendation ready in time. I was really freaking out. I didn’t think they would choose me.”

Her strong faith and leadership have brought Vallejo far in her religious pursuit, but she needed more than that for her success. When applying to become a National Acteens Panelist, there was an essay portion that consisted of five 500-700 word essays with topics ranging from the applicant’s school life to what Acteens means to them.

“One of them was just about my testimony what my walk with Christ has been like,” Vallejo said. “Another was on what Acteens means to you, another said ‘how is Christ still alive today?’ One talk[ed] about what you’re involved in at school, and I think [there was one on] how you show Christ through your actions.”

Her testimony essay was the most personal for Vallejo. The experiences that made her the woman she is today were pretty emotional for her to write on, she sayid.

“Some of the essays were pretty easy to write, because I already knew what I could say about them, like why National Acteens is a blessing to me,” Vallejo said. “I was like, that’s so easy to say. But for others, my testimony one, it was pretty emotional to remember what I’ve gone through to where I am today.”

Although the prompt meant exposing her life story, it also gave her the most to write on. Vallejo wrote around 1,000 words in her testimony essay, cut it down to fit the word count, and then sent in both her original and the condensed versions.

Along with her National Acteens Panelist title, she received an opportunity to write on their magazine, “The Mag.”

“They sent me a paper saying the different things I can write about and some articles are like, ‘just write something you wanna do’ and others are like ‘you have to write about this,’” Vallejo said.

Vallejo said that her Acteens leader, friends and parents are extremely proud of her for giving not only her church a good name, but for representing her family through her actions in her journey with Christ.

“[Everyone was] really happy for me when we found out I had gotten [chosen],” Vallejo said. “They were really proud of me. They knew I could do it. They also had a lot of faith that I could get it.”

Any doubt that Vallejo had prior to receiving her recognition left her mind as she received her news. With the title of National Acteens Panelist under her belt, she became more optimistic about her dream to pursue ministry in college.

“It sorta boosted my self-esteem up that I could do this,” Vallejo said. “ I’m going to Dallas Baptist University for ministry. Acteens really helped me realize I wanted to do that because I’ve always been really involved in helping others. I didn’t realize how involved I was with telling people about Christ and everything.”