Q: Why are you doing Miss Northwestern?
Katherine Blair: The reason as to why I’m competing this year is because I would love to represent Northwestern at Miss Oklahoma. Northwestern has done so much for me as a student and as a person that I want to give back. I feel that this is a great way to give back to the school that has done so much for me is to represent at Miss Oklahoma to the best of my absolute abilities.
Shelby Bender: I did Miss Cherokee and won then was able to go on to do Miss Cinderella. I loved experiencing a girlier side I didn’t know I had! I also would love to win even half of the scholarships awarding by the organization!
Macie Malone: Never in a million years did I ever think I would be competing in a pageant, but after a few people suggested I enter in the Miss Northwestern pageant, I gave it second thought. Truth be told, I am so nervous! That being said, in ten years when I could be married with kids, I would love to be able to say I competed in a pageant once in my life. In addition to that, it’s amazing what an impact a pageant winner can make. There is a lot more to pageantry than meets the eye. I would love to take the title and work hard to make a difference in our community.
Mandra Maxwell: Competing in Miss Northwestern is a great opportunity for me to step out of my comfort zone and hopefully improve my self-confidence and interview skills. I would also love the chance to represent my favorite university.
Shelbi Morland: I do other Miss Oklahoma prelims all over the state. I love the system and I’m hoping to be crowned here, since I am most active in this community and I wouldn’t have to drive for hours to get to the community I was crowned in. I feel like of all the places I compete, this is home so this would mean the most to me to get to represent us at state.
Meghan Webb: I am participating in miss northwestern because it is a great scholarship opportunity and helps gain self-confidence. I also want to get my platform known in the community to help foster kids.
Q: What are you hoping to gain from this experience?
Katherine Blair: I am hoping to gain if anything from this experience would be that I was able to have the confidence in myself to get out on that stage and be myself and I hope to be a role model to the girls that look up to, like I did when I was their age.
Shelby Bender: I’m hoping to bond with the girls going through this with me and also learn more about the community service side of the pageant world and help my platform be successful throughout this experience.
Macie Malone: I am hoping to have a great time and make memories by participating in Miss Northwestern. It will also be really awesome to experience being in the pageant world for the first time.
Mandra Maxwell: I hope to gain self-confidence and friendships with the girls I’ll be competing with.
Shelbi Morland: Well like I said I compete all across the state. So what I’ve found doing this is I have an increased confidence in myself. I feel confident in my interview/public speaking skills. I feel strong minded and bodied because when you get up in front of a crowd of people and a panel of people you know is judging little everything about you, you tend to grow some confidence pretty quick. And most importantly, every time I compete, I feel myself getting a little more comfortable in what I’m doing. So every pageant is a great growing experience.
Meghan Webb: I am hoping to gain new friends, better confidence with my body and take away great interview skills for future jobs.
Q: What is your platform and why did you choose it?
Katherine Blair: My platform is Arts in Schools. I am an Instrumental Music Education Major and Theatre Minor. The Fine Arts have been a big part of my life since I could remember. I am highly involved in Choir, Band, and Theatre here at NWOSU. And for the past two years it has been nothing but amazing. The Arts have sculpted me as the person I am today. There are children all over the United States who do not get access to the Fine Arts like we are. And I believe that these programs are vital to not only a child’s emotional growth but their mental growth as well. That is why Arts in Schools is my platform.
Shelby Bender: My platform is Stamp Out Starvation, They package meals consisting of ingredients that make a simple stir fry. Each bag holds 6 servings of food! A group of girls from my sorority were able to volunteer and we made almost 4,000 meals and we were there for 2 hours! They then send it throughout the world, Haiti is a big place they send to, and recently they were sending them to Texas due to the hurricanes! If I do happen to win I would like to help them get more volunteers! And also help them raise donations that allow them to do what they do. Throughout my high school career I was able to volunteer there multiple times a year! They would come to the high school and also I was able to volunteer with other organizations!
Macie Malone: My platform focuses around the importance of women’s preventative health, such as yearly well woman exams and proper prenatal care. I spent a year working in an OBGYN office and experienced firsthand how important women’s health is, and if it is not made a priority, it can escalate into a life threatening issue.
Mandra Maxwell: My platform is called End the Stigma and it is about spreading mental health awareness and explaining to society that mental health is just as important as our physical health. I chose End the Stigma to be my platform because it is a subject I closely relate to and I feel it’s important for our society to know about mental health awareness in order to improve our overall health.
Shelbi Morland: My platform is called Self-Respect and Self-Defense. I chose it because I have been taking martial arts classes for over 13 years. It’s really important to me that everyone, women especially, have a basic knowledge of self-defense. Unfortunately, very bad things happen to people all of the time, and no one thinks it will happen to them and more often than not turn a blind eye to it. Then when faced with that situation, they have limited knowledge of how to protect themselves. I help spread knowledge of what to watch for, or red flags, in everyday life, relationships, and scenarios. I also host seminars on how to defend yourself in a variety of bad situations. When I work with younger kids, I talk to them about seeing other kids as people too, how they have feelings. I get them to see how it would feel if the roles were reversed and why we should show love and respect towards everyone, no matter what differences they have.
Meghan Webb: My platform is Foster Care awareness and I chose this because I was a foster kid and I had gotten many benefits from the state, but some of the benefits I was fortunate to receive they no longer provide because of budgets cuts. I want to help provide clothing items and bags for children in foster care. I am also raising awareness about the shortage of homes for these children.
Q: What is your Talent?
Katherine Blair: My talent is a vocal solo from Andrew Lloyd Webers Broadway musical Phantom of the Opera entitled Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again.
Shelby Bender: I will be performing a vocal solo to the song Lost Boy by Ruth B!
Macie Malone: I will be singing and playing the piano to the song “Only Hope” from the movie A Walk to Remember.
Mandra Maxwell: My talent is a lyrical dance to “Demons” by the Imagine Dragons.
Shelbi Morland: My talent is a nun chuck/martial arts routine. I perform with double nun chucks and a set that have LED lights in them. I show off a few of my favorite kicks & I break a board on stage. It’s for sure my favorite part of competition.
Meghan Webb: My talent is a character jazz dance to “Dig a Little Deeper” from Disney’s Princess and the Frog