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Winner
Pageant Soup Award |
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| Last summer I traded my gown, make-up and high
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| heels for a camp
T-shirt, khaki shorts and hiking |
| boots. I spent two months working at an all girl
camp
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in the back woods of
Pennsylvania It was hard to adjust at first to
my new surroundings and new lifestyle- showering only once or twice a
week, being eaten alive by bugs, having no access to a cell phone or
computer and sleeping in a tent in the middle of the woods. But when the
shock of camp life wore off, the best summer of my life began.
Mentoring young girls at camp may seem unimportant to others my age,
but the experience was priceless. Over the course of the summer I watched as
shy, timid girls bloomed into confident young ladies. Everyday camp
challenges such as archery, kayaking, rock climbing and cooking their
own meals over a campfire helped those young ladies learn not only new
skills, but they experienced perseverance as well. When they didn’t
reach their goal of climbing to the top of the rock wall the first time,
they continued to try until they could.
Team building activities, repelling, and canoeing amongst having
to share a small tent with three other girls taught them how to trust one
another. The positive environment they experienced at camp with
encouragement from their peers and camp staff also helped them learn
about supporting each other and being a force of kindness in this
sometimes unkind world.
Having been able to spend my summer teaching young ladies new skills that
go beyond camp reminds me of one of the songs we sang “Life 2B.”
The song asks “with all your choices said and done, who is the woman
you’ll become?” My hope is that I have touched one of my camper’s lives
in a truly meaningful way. So, that when they grow up they too will
mentor young girls in hopes of helping shape them into confident women
of tomorrow and make a lasting impact on their lives.
by Sommerly Simser, Miss Nevada American Beauty |
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Entry
#1 for Pageant Soup |
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| Recently
as Miss Georgia American Beauty,
I was
asked |
| to join the volunteer
crew for the ABC TV
show, |
| "Extreme
Makeover Home Edition". |
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We
gathered to help rebuild a fire damaged home for a single
mother and her family. Sadly, in the midst of their
tragedy the family also lost their teenage son Ransom,
to a tragic car accident and then the mother lost her
job and was unable to afford a home. It was a life
changing experience as I rallied with hundreds of other
volunteers and crew members to help bring joy back into
this family’s life. The work we did on rebuilding the
home was so important to this family as they also
rebuilt their lives. I was honored to be a part of
something so powerful and I was inspired and touched by
the story of this family and their courage. Also, as an
organ donor advocate myself, I was impressed by the fact
that the 19 year old Ransom who had been tragically
killed was also an organ donor. Through his gift of
valuable organs, 6 other lives were saved. It was a
tearful moment during construction when a young woman
who received a his heart spoke to us of his generous
gift of life. I will never forget that through sharing,
we all really do make a difference in this world.
by Jillian
Graetz, Miss GA American Beauty |
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Entry
#3 for Pageant Soup |
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| Since
I was young, I have always enjoyed mentoring |
| children.
I think that the more you are
involved with |
| them
and lead by example the
more it will impact |
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them
later in their life. There
is one girl’s story that really affected me.
She was about 10 years old and as cute as could be, at
first glance she seemed like she lead a perfectly
happy life. I went to go and visit with her, about 2-3
times a week. Each week she would tell me a little bit
more about her family and how she was always ignored
because her mother and father were divorced and she
was forced to live with her father and his new family.
She explained to me that she stayed in her room at all
times, when she went home because when she tried to
spend time with them, she felt distant and
unimportant. She tried telling her mother, but it was
the same situation, because her mother recently
remarried. I thought, “what could I do but listen
and let her know that things would get better and that
she always had a friend in me”. I also asked if she
would like for me to speak with the counselor of her
school, to see if they could speak with her parents
and she agreed. I did not want to mistake this, for a
child that just wanted attention, so I would ask
questions, to find out more information to see if this
was the case of her parents neglecting her, because
they had new families. The more she told me the more I
figured out that something needed to be done, because
she started asking me questions about taking her life.
My heart hurt for her, so bad, that she felt like
nobody would listen to her. Her school counselors
spoke with her parents, and she and I kept our regular
visits, and gradually after a few months the situation
changed and her family became much more attentive to
her feelings. Her whole attitude changed and she was
so much happier at our visits. I still wanted to
remain her friend, because I know everybody needs
somebody to talk to, whom they trust. I was so
excited, that I was given this task, to help this
little girl who just needed someone to communicate
with.
by Kiran
Panjwani, Miss
Texas American Beauty
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Entry
#5 for Pageant Soup |
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| My personal platform deals with helping women
in crisis |
| overcome their hardships
so that they can find their own |
| personal strength to stand against any obstacle in their
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life. As a teenager and young adult, I was abused
mentally, emotionally and
physically by my estranged mother when circumstances forced me to be placed back
into her guardianship. I struggled most of my adult life coping with the doubt
that I felt about my appearance and self-worth, but was able to overcome all of
the past. Although this is my first pageant, being a part of all of the events and
interactions have been life-changing experiences. Pageantry has also helped me to
focus my platform efforts within my community so that I have been able to
personally work more with the women in need around me. As a community counselor,
my course requirements involved attending multiple training sessions at the Comal
County Crisis Center. The sessions were very intense and sometimes emotionally
draining, but well worth the time spent in training. I was very saddened to learn about how many women
do not report being the victims of sexual and physical assaults not only from fear
or embarrassment of having been in such a situation, but mainly because of the
impersonal way that they are treated by the on-scene officers, nurses and medical
staff. A woman who reports being a victim has so many legal, medical and technical
"tests" to go through and often they end up feeling as if they are to blame for
what has happened to them. Instead of receiving comfort when they are admitted to
the hospital or when a police officer is questioning them about the incident, they
feel distanced from the doctors and officers because in order for them to do their
jobs effectively, they have to remove themselves from the situation; but this can
make the women end up feeling more guilt and shame over their circumstances. My
position as a crisis counselor allows me to sit with these women so that I can be
of any assistance to them at that moment - be it to pray with them, listen to their
story or just hold them when they need a shoulder to cry on. Being involved in
pageantry also helps during my counseling in that it not only allows me
to be a role model but it gives them hope because if I, at my age, can be in a pageant,
then maybe they too can aspire for a crown of their own. Pageantry also has the
means to open doors that can give these women and their situations a voice so that
other people in the community can reach out and assist them too. With everyone
working together to heal the hurt in our own community, we can then take our
strength and share it with others that are going through the same situations.
Recently, I had the opportunity to assist a young woman who had come to my
workplace (Tree of Life Church) seeking assistance. Through the community network,
I was able to help her find a lawyer who could issue a restraining order against
her abusive spouse as well as other legal aide plus through other resources I was able to procure her financial
assistance for her rent, food and utilities. Helping this young lady regain her
sense of self worth so that she could get her life safely and securely back on
track is one of the many blessed moments in both my personal life and career.
by Kay Scott Elite Central Texas American Beauty |
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Entry
#2 for Pageant Soup |
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| I
grew up just wanting to be normal. Instead, I |
| grew
up not knowing my father and being |
| abandoned
by mother. I was moved from |
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home
to home some good, some bad, and most
unacceptable. I was shown and told how unloved and
unwanted I was. As I moved from home to home, most of my
belongings were lost, stolen by other kids, or had to be
left behind. I
knew the cards were stacked against me to be anything,
or do anything with my life. Pageants gave me something
to focus on and keep me out of trouble. They gave me a
chance to be a girl, be beautiful, and give me skills I
need to get a job interview, and build relationships. We
may never get rid of all those feelings of confusion and
pain, but we can learn what to do with them, and how to
have a productive, healthy life. Pageantry has allowed
me to be a role model for other kids that have been, or
currently still are in the same situation as I was.
Pageantry has given me a voice to help the public’s
idea of what neglected and abused kids go through and
how they can help.
It has also opened doors so I can show other kids
that the circumstance you grew up in does not dictate
the person that you will become. You do.
We may have to try a little harder than someone
who is born and raised by a “real” family, but that
is what makes us anything but normal! Pageants have not
given me self esteem, instead they have given me the
tools to have self esteem, confidence, and self respect.
I hope to show other young girls what I have learned
through pageants that you can be someone! You can be
you, and now that is someone special!
by
Carrie Leighann, Ms. Washington |
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Entry
#4 for Pageant Soup |
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| Pageantry has been my outlet to share
my stories |
| of tragedy turned triumphant with others
guiding them |
| along their own journey of overcoming adversity. |
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Most importantly it has become a vehicle of growth
and healing. Growing up in a small town outside of Buffalo, NY, I thrived to become a performer in the big city lights. One week after being married, my husband and I moved to Las Vegas where my dreams became a reality. After two years, we realized that we had become part of a “plastic lifestyle” in which we lost not only ourselves but also
each other. In an attempt to regain who we were and our connection, we took a leave of absence from Las Vegas, came back to Buffalo and that’s when I faced my own mortality twice within eleven months.
I went to my grandmother’s grave where I sat for over an hour talking to her, asking if she could just give me a sign of what I should do. Move back to Las Vegas and continue that lifestyle I always dreamed of or do I stay here, in Buffalo? When I left the cemetery, I was in near fatal car accident. As I went through a green light I was hit, my car was totaled and I suffered herniated discs, a broken jaw, a broken wrist and a traumatic brain injury. The traumatic brain injury turned my life as well as my families upside down. I immediately had short-term memory, long-term memory, attention, auditory, visual and emotional problems from this injury. I had slurred speech; I stuttered and had a loss of vocabulary. This was hard to understand and to accept considering I was in a Broadway musical in Las Vegas as well just breaking into the acting arena. She answered my question! I had to stay back here in Buffalo, NY for all of my rehab. In the process I lost everything I obtained over those 2 years in Las Vegas. My house, my cars, my jobs and my bank account was drained. During rehab I was
tossed from doctor to doctor and had many advise my husband and I that I’d never be the same person I once was. They told us to move on, forget my prior endeavors and said I’d NEVER be on a stage again! Eventually I found a treatment team that believed in me and gave me my life back. I was with them for one year of rigorous treatments. Four days prior to my release, my father and I were in a near fatal car
accident that nearly claimed my life. Rehab began from the beginning and that’s the day I realized my life actually began. I was given a reason to be hear, a mission in life and for the first time I knew
what my purpose was. I became inoculated with this passion to share my story with America and teach other victims how they too can become victors. They too can once again navigate through this adult world of complex relationships. My search began. I was looking for a vehicle to carry my message and that’s when I found PAGEANTRY! I became Mrs. New York, traveled the state hoping to change peoples lives and in the process, those peoples lives that I wanted to change, they were changing mine! I received e-mails, phone calls, and letters from people that I had met thanking me for leading them on a path to recovery. I was amazed and still am to see that pageantry is such a tremendous vessel to change thousands of lives. Not only the life of the titleholder but the people that she meets. Only because of pageantry have I re-gained my self-confidence that was lost in both accidents, only because of pageantry was I allowed the opportunity to reach out with a louder voice and larger audience and only because of pageantry I was led to become
a national spokesperson for a cause I hold near and dear to my heart. The “Click it or Ticket” campaign by the DMV. Pageantry gives woman of all ages a podium, spotlight and platform allowing for growth and an appreciation for life. Pageants are not about self, they are about service. I consider being Mrs. New York as part of my treatment and has made me who I am today.
by Jennifer Stehlar Mrs. New York American Beauty |
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