April 2, 2012 Teen of the Week - Maria Miller
The play was her second production as a very young actress, in which she played the lamb. Miller looked up to the actress playing Charlotte, and this year, she got to see the same eager look in others' eyes.
Maria Miller, daughter of Tom and Cindy Miller, is the Mid-Continent University Teen of the Week. Each Monday, the Sun features a different MCU Teen of the Week selected from nominees who high school guidance counselors throughout western Kentucky and southern Illinois submit to the Sun. Mid-Continent University will provide each Teen of the Week with a $2,500 annual scholarship to its university, which is renewable for four years. In the spring, a Teen of the Year will be chosen from the weekly winners and will receive a full four-year scholarship to Mid-Continent University, currently valued at up to $55,000, or a cash reward of $2,500 paid through the Paducah Sun if the student selects another college to attend.
Miller's family has a creative heritage. Her parents were both music majors in college and her older sister is a theater student at Northern Kentucky University. Her younger sister is more into soccer.
She grew up in the theater, and the lessons she learned reach farther than memorizing her lines. When Miller became a teacher's assistant on the weekend theater programs, she learned how to impart what she learned on other young performers. Things are always changing. New talent comes in and brings new ideas, and the entire art blossoms.
Miller plans to study either music education or theater education with a double major in chemistry. Though her right brain works overtime, she hasn't let the left go to waste. She said she gets her love of chemistry from her grandfather.
She aspires to continue affecting people's lives in a positive way, like her teachers did when she was younger.
"I want to pass my love on so others can grow in that and be in the same position I am," Miller said.
Call Rebecca Feldhaus, a Paducah Sun staff writer, at 270-575-8651.
