Editor's Note: This article has been edited to correct an incorrect quote about Brown's work to establish a girls' soccer team in Cambodia.
The next cover girl for Seventeen magazine might be a familiar face. Senior Lindsay Brown has been named a finalist for Seventeen's second-annual "Pretty Amazing Contest," and the winner will be put on the cover of the magazine's October issue.
Brown said the contest rewards girls who have been doing exceptional work.
"Each year Seventeen puts a real girl on the cover to celebrate the accomplishments of one of the readers that has done something that they say is 'pretty amazing,'" Brown said. "It can be anything from ... charity work or an athletic accomplishment or dance."
In addition to appearing on the cover of Seventeen Magazine, the winner also receives $20,000 toward her work and tours the world giving speeches on behalf of Seventeen, Brown said.
Brown said she found out about the contest from the president of the non-profit She's the First, an organization that sponsors girls' tuition in impoverished areas; she was working for She's the First at the time.
"My friend in New York City who's the president of She's the First found out about it on Twitter .... and she forwarded it onto me," she said. "It was due April 30th, and I never really got around to it until the last day."
Brown said she started working for She's the First her sophomore year by running a simple bake sale with the help of her then-teammates on the Notre Dame women's soccer team to raise money for tuition at a girls' school in Nepal.
"I went on the Nepal website and emailed the founder," she said. "It was really cool talking to her and telling her, 'Oh, my soccer team helped me raise the money,' and she used to play soccer. We instantly hit it off."
This experience led Brown to start her own non-profit, the S.E.G.W.A.Y. project, which stands for "Soccer Empowering Girls Worldwide and You."
"It kind of worked out that it stands for that because when I got to Nepal, the girls ... were just so timid, reserved and shy," Brown said. "I was telling my mom, 'What good is it to have them in the classroom if they're not leaders in the community?' That's when I realized soccer can be used to teach confidence and leadership so they can segue into community leaders."
Brown said she was amazed by the impact the soccer team had on that Nepali village.
"The boys really started respecting the girls when they realized, 'Oh, they can play soccer,'" she said. "It was weird. [These are] things we don't think about, but in their community it's ground-breaking."
So far, the S.E.G.W.A.Y. project has launched three girls' soccer teams in Nepal and is expanding to other countries, Brown said.
"I'm creating one in Cambodia," she said. "We're also partnered with a team in Kenya. Our goal is to help them fund their team trip to a tournament in Minnesota next July."
Brown said she hopes the Pretty Amazing Contest will create publicity for her organization and inspire other girls to make efforts to perform service.
"I hope girls can realize that something as simple as a bake sale can make a huge impact on a girl's life," she said.
Brown said the contest's results should be announced within the next two weeks.
