It's Not All Lights, Camera, Action

Rhinestones, heels, lipstick, all the pictures and little girls looking up to you and saying " I want to be you when I grow up!" is a lot of what being a titleholder looks like, but what about once the social media goes away, the crown gets put into the box until the next event, when does the title stop and the girl behind the title begins? Well let me tell you, it's not all that, there is a lot more beneath the crown. Beneath each and every crown, there is a woman, a girl with a mind to change the world no matter the obstacle. They are reporters, actresses, doctors, nuclear engineers, anything and everything in between. Underneath that, they are human. There will be times where they mess up and you know what? That's okay, the Miss America Organization, especially since the early 2000s have made Miss America extremely human and that is so good because so many times we get caught up in the title and forget that our name is "Lily", or "Anna" or "Grace" it's easy to do but once we remember who we are we are an unstoppable force. Together we create a wall of change with women who aren't scared to get in the dirt and work for others and what we want. That's a lot of why we joined the Miss America Organization in the first place. I watched the Miss America 2023 competition the other night and I had my top two picked out, Taryn who is Miss New York and Averie who is Miss Texas. They have always and will continue to be my two favorite 2023 state titleholders. When they waited to call Averie for the last woman in top five I fell to the ground and started crying because I knew how much she wanted it. Who ever said that it's not bad being on the other side of things LIED. I feel like my blood pressure rose to astronimical levels becuase of the amount of excitement that I felt. Then as time went on, another young woman rose to the top, a beautiful violinist with a small smile and a humility that I haven't seen in so long. Miss Wisconsin, Grace Stanke. She was real and empowering and not only that, she knew who she was and is and she was asked a question about how she would handle a controversial topic where MAO's opinion and her opinion differed and she answered beautifully. I'm paraphrasing but it went something like this: "I would tell the person who asked the question what MAO's stance is, but if they asked for mine, I would say: 'I am answering as Grace, not as Miss America because I am still Grace and have my own thought process'" Then in my mind her face flashed in front of my eyes with the Miss America crown on her head. Lo and behold she is now our new Miss America. You see what I mean? She was unapologetically herself in every aspect and that's what makes a titleholder great, not just good. She is a great titleholder because she didn't let the crown impact her soul like so many people do. With great power comes great responsibility and she knows exactly how to handle it. I admire her for it. With my first title, I had the best year but once I gave it up, I lost myself but that was only because I was still learning, if the Miss Louisiana crown was placed on my hed tonight I know that I am the one to bring worth to the crown, not the other way around. Yes, the crown can make me seen much better, but its the impact that I can make as Lily that will last for years to come. The crown will be passed down to the next girl and the next, but they will remember you for you because there are a hundred crowns, but only one you.