NATCHEZ — A Cathedral Middle School sixth-grader recently placed in the top three in a statewide Daughter’s of the American Revolution essay contest with her essay inspired by a philosopher of the women’s rights and suffrage movements, Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

Kinslee Young, daughter of Shane and Amanda Young, said she was surprised to win the regional essay competition, much less earn third-place on the state level.

“I was shocked,” Young said. “I’m not one of the top kids in my class and was not expecting it.”

Her achievement puts Cathedral’s sixth graders in a three-year winning streak in the state competition, Young said.

Young said she loves outdoor activities and playing all kinds of sports, such as softball, basketball, tennis, gymnastics and even football, “like one of the boys,” she said.

With a firm belief that every girl should be able to do what any boy can, Young said she chose her essay topic last November and started writing about Stanton, a leading women’s suffrage activist in the 1860s.

“Back then, women couldn’t do what men could do,” Young said. “If women tried to do certain things, there would be consequences with it. … If a woman tried to vote, she could be thrown in jail. If she went on a hunger strike, she would be forced to eat and had to stay in jail. … (Stanton) was a prominent figure during the women’s suffrage movement. … and I felt like she helped the movement the most. … During my research, my eyes went straight to her.”