By EMILY SMITH
Guest Columnist
I chose to compete in Miss Northwestern because I wanted to push myself out of my comfort zone as well as to see what the whole pageant world was all about.
Competing for Miss Northwestern was one of the first things in my life that I chose to do myself and for myself. When I competed for Miss Northwestern, I really had no clue what I was getting myself into, but knew I wanted to grow throughout the experience.
When I won the title, I had no clue how my life would change.
Throughout my year as Miss Northwestern, I knew I wanted to do a lot of service. I became really passionate about my Community Service Initiative and wanted to be able to share it with as many people as possible.
I had many opportunities to speak in schools from the elementary level all the way to college students.
Through these experiences I have learned a lot about myself and what more I want to do with my life. I have gained public speaking skills, confidence, a passion for service and a community that I really love and cherish. When I competed at Miss Oklahoma, I knew it would be completely out of my comfort zone So, I chose to focus on growing my self-confidence and how I could best serve those around me. The experience I had at Miss Oklahoma changed my perspective on pageants, and life in general.
I met the most genuine, intelligent, selfless and community changing women the week of Miss Oklahoma. It immediately made me want to dive deeper into sharing and implementing my community service initiative and sparked a greater love for service and self-growth.
So, surprisingly, I decided to compete in another preliminary pageant to see if I could gain more scholarship money and to maybe get the opportunity to experience Miss Oklahoma once again. I competed at Miss Tulsa State Fair this past October and won the title of Miss Tulsa County.
Never did I think that I would continue in pageants, but after experiencing the amount of growth that I did as Miss Northwestern in one year, I knew I wanted to continue, God willing. The thing about pageants that I didn’t realize before, was, in the Miss America system, there are 5 points to the crown. Service, Scholarship, Success, Sisterhood, and Style.
I have grown in every point of the crown this year and I’m excited to see what more I can do to benefit my community and to continue to grow to be the best person I can be.
I am extremely grateful for the opportunities I have had as Miss Northwestern and for myself simply choosing to put myself out of my comfort zone a year ago that has led to the MANY life changing opportunities this last year has brought to me.
Now you can find me advocating for young girls to get involved with the Miss America system as there are so many scholarships, service and growth opportunities available.
