Road To Legacy

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 ...

 Dear Younger Me,  Honestly, I don't know where to start. There are so many things that come to mind, but I guess I should start out simply and truthfully. Life isn't everything that the movies make it out to be. It isn't the fairytales that you read. Life is hard, real hard. You're going to go through so much- things you wouldn't even have thought of. You're going to cry, you're going to feel pain and there will be days where you feel like you can't make it any longer. This will go on for a few years. Your life will feel miserable. There's a but in there, no worries. Within all these hard things, there are rainbows. There are days with snow flurries where you'll realize that everything will be alright. Life isn't all horrible, in it all, there will be beauty. You are strong, you are a one of a kind person- even if you feel like you are the most basic blonde headed girl in the room- you are someone special. You just don't realize it just ...

Good morning on this beautiful June morning. I've been up since 4 am because I have started a new summer job at my local gym, taking the morning shifts that begin at 5:15 am. That being said, tired is understatement. Starting out, I was fine, and then my life turned upside down- more than it has been since I won the Miss Southeastern Crown.      Miss Louisiana is in in 13 days, so that means extra prep time, practices, buying things for so many people- including myself. And it doesn't stop there. My life is hectic, working two jobs, and then moving out of my old apartment into a new one within two days (it's still not done by the way, boxes are EVERYWHERE). I have several appearances in the next week and a half, appointments to get myself looking my best and last minute touches on talent. Waking up before the sun even comes up. It gets a little overwhelming sometimes. I look back on the school year and I ask myself: " how in the world did I manage everything that I did...