Miss Teen of New York Farewell Speech

As promised, I've posted a video of my Miss Teen of New York farewell speech (forgive the few choppy spots - my mom's not quite ready for her directorial debut), as well as the text of my speech. I had to cut it down for time, but below is the entire speech, unedited.
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While recently working on my Miss Teen scrapbooks, which you saw throughout the weekend, I found I was having difficulty deciding what to include and what not to include in their pages. I was no longer certain what counted as a Miss Teen event or not. Should that award ceremony be included? Should a page go towards my high school graduation? What about that college visit? After being a titleholder for two years now, I was unsure where the small town girl who scrubbed pizzeria fryer baskets ended and Miss Teen of America began.

When I competed for Miss Teen of New York in 2008, I could have never imagined the impact this new aspect of my life would have on me. I assumed I would always have to separate these different parts of myself into isolated compartments. That Sunday in 2008, it just seemed so strange that I was chosen as Miss Teen of New York. I would never have anticipated it. That morning before finals, my mom told me that she had a feeling I was going to win. She knew I was going to get it, she said. I took it as mom talk, and told her she was crazy. Even as I stood onstage with my first runner-up, Katie Ball, I thought to myself, “What a cool story to go back to school with? How I was first runner-up to Miss Teen of New York. Weird.” I was uncharacteristically speechless during the four hour ride back home, following the pageant.

You see, being a pageant girl was never a part of my life’s plan. Like many of our candidates this weekend, I didn’t grow up watching Miss America, formulating dreams of my future in the pageant world. All my Barbies went to Harvard, not pageants. (Yes, on that note, my Barbies should have gone to Yale, but I was young and misguided.) I guess you could say I was a bit of a skeptic.

I’ve told this story many times, but I’m going to tell it at least once more. I received my first Miss Teen of New York application when I was 14. I took a look at all the Miss Teen of Americas from the ‘80’s with their big hair and shoulder pads, and figured that the application’s protest of “THIS IS NOT A BEAUTY PAGEANT” was a big old lie. So I threw it in the trash.

Two years later when I was 16, I walked into math class one morning to find a very familiar envelope waiting for me. It was another application. I was about to throw it in the trash once again, before a very good friend, my best friend, Eileen Hayes stopped me. Eileen had also receive an application, and she tried to convince me that it was something fun we could do together. She got my mom on board, and the two of them talked me out of throwing the application in the trash for a second time.

It’s a really good thing they did.

Two years later, it’s hard to imagine how my life would have been had I thrown that application away. It’s almost scary, actually, to think of the people I would have missed out on meeting, the friends who would never have been able to become like family, the places I wouldn’t have seen, and the opportunities I would have missed out on.

For starters, had that application landed in the trash, I wouldn’t have been able to meet all of you wonderful girls in the audience. I wouldn’t have been able to meet these people running the show backstage. There are so many more amazing people who are a part of my life now who aren’t here today, people I’m willing to give up Thanksgiving dinner for every year to go see at the Distinguished Youth of Texas pageant, a director who’ve I’ve traveled to the ends of the earth with and we’ve yet to kill each other, amazing titleholders who have become like sisters to an only child, one of which I have to thank for giving me the support and courage and pride in my abilities to apply to my dream school. If it weren’t for that former Miss Teen of North Carolina Meredith Potter, a rising sophomore at my new alma mater, there’s no way I would be headed to where I am in one week’s time. Without this program, there’s no way I would have had the resume or life experiences or overall maturity to get me into Yale. Had I thrown out that application, I don’t know where I would be going next week.

There’s so many people I’ve been blessed to meet, outside of the immediate Miss Teen family. There’s my host family, the Tomes, in Wagga Wagga, Australia, who taught me about drop bears, and Karmello Koalas, and so much more about their beautiful country. I think of the Pink Dragons, the middle school girl empowerment group I got to speak with who reminded me of what it was like to be their age, not so very long ago. I think of the adults and politicians I’ve gotten to work alongside and come to consider my peers through the Tobacco-Free Coalition. And I think of Alden Malachowski, a little girl , a brave girl, who shared the name of my high school and hometown, and who I got to meet because of pure timing and serendipity. It just so happened that I was traveling to receive the national title in Austin, where her family lives, just weeks after her father contacted our school, asking for support for his daughter. I only got to meet 12 year old Alden once before she passed away from Leukemia on December 13th, 2009, but she’ll always live on in my heart, urging me to do her proud. I cherish the contact I’ve been able to maintain with the Malachowski family, including their recent trip to Alden, New York.

As for the places I’ve been, places I would have never imagined going to by the time I was 18 years old? I’m a New York girl. (Even though it was my title that took me to New York City and Albany for the first times.) I’ve always been accepting of other races and ethnicities, but as a New York girl, I think I tended to put blinders up to certain areas of the country. The South? I allowed stereotypes and jokes to cloud my ideas of our neighbors to South, until I spent a week in Atlanta in between staffing North Carolina and Georgia. Now? I run when I come across a Chic-Fil-A in an airport. If I can find authentic sweet tea at a restaurant, I jump for joy. I had grits and sushi for the first time in Atlanta, and while I’m not yet a convert to either delicacy, I do now know the meaning behind “Bless Her Heart”.

As for our neighbors to the west, I didn’t know a thing. But after spending the St. Paul’s Winter Carnival with 89 pageant girls from Minnesota and Wisconsin, including Miss Corn Cob and Miss Cheese Curd, I came to have a whole new appreciation for the Midwest.

And Texas? Before the title, I knew about oil and politicians. I had no idea about the kind people, keeping Austin weird, Longhorn pride, the San Antonio river walk, or the beauty of the Alamo lit up at night.

Going to Australia was a fulfillment of the dream I had had since I was 8 years old, that came about from watching Mary Kate and Ashley’s “Our Lips Are Sealed” in conjunction with the Sydney Olympics. To have the coat-of-arms lunch, of kangaroo and emu, on the banks of the Murimbidgee, to climb to the top of the Sydney Harbor Bridge as the sun was setting, to sit on a plane for 27 hours, opened my mind up to all the possibilities that my life could have.

What if I had thrown the application in the trash? What if my mom and Eyes hadn’t been so insightful, hadn’t stopped me?

Back when I was 16, I never thought I would be a titleholder. Standing before you now, as an 18 year old heading off to college in a week, I can’t imagine my life without it.

The title is nice, but the experiences I’ve been able to have with this program have become an integrate part of my foundation as a person. I see the world differently than I did two years ago. I view myself differently. I don’t have an on-off switch for when I’m in titleholder mode or not. It’s become a part of my character.
I hope that’s something all of the candidates take with them after today’s ceremony.

There will be one Miss Teen of New York, there can only be one, but it could have been any of you. You may not leave this building today with a sash, but I hope you leave with a different view of yourself and your abilities. You don’t need a fancy title to meet amazing people and to have life changing experiences. You just have to have confidence in yourself and a desire to do some amazing things with your life.
To be here, right now, you’ve already proven your capable of that.

And to the girl who will take my place in a few minutes, I hope she takes the fullest advantage of the opportunities presented to her. It can change your life.

And remember, I was the first Miss Teen of New York to become Miss Teen of America…but I WILL NOT BE THE LAST!

Passing Off the New York Torch

What a two years it’s been. While I still hold my Miss Teen of America title until Thanksgiving, everything just seemed to culminate in this past weekend’s Miss Teen of New York Pageant.

I had been looking forward to this pageant all summer. So much so that the mononucleosis I was diagnosed with two days before couldn’t even stop me from going. After sleeping the mono off for two days, I packed up the car on Thursday and drove myself to the Holiday Inn Liverpool in Syracuse, New York. Two years ago I had driven with my parents to the pageant and I felt like a huge bucket of nerves. I felt so grown up now, driving myself and being the first staff to report. I found the hotel staff and started unloading my car’s contents into headquarters. The traditional Walmart run and setting up headquarters were mostly completed before Sunny’s flight landed later that night.

In the morning, Sunny and I were joined by Miss Teen of Idaho Paige Jensen, the new Miss Teen of Pennsylvania Hayley Fisher, and their moms. Friday afternoon was a blur of making signs, preparing for check-in, watching our favorite YouTube videos, and getting very, very lost on our way to Panera Bread.

Check-in went fairly smooth, despite terrible road work on the I-90 E that kept my girls from Western New York from arriving on time. At the end of the check-in tables, the moms had set up my scrapbooks, picture frames, souvenirs, and general Miss Teen memorabilia that I had accumulated over the years into a kind of shrine common at grad parties. I didn’t have a high school graduation party, so I think I treated this weekend as one a little bit. It was nice having all of this stuff on hand, though, since there were three girls competing this weekend that I had competed against, so they were able to see pictures from that weekend two years ago.

As I’ve been staffing more and more pageants, Sunny’s given me a little more responsibility, so I helped open up Briefing Session. When it was time, the titleholders and I took the girls to our get-acquainted party. Hayley got them started on the choreography for “Dancin’ in the Aisles” and when it looked as if ears were about to start bleeding, we divvied the girls up to let them start working on their problem-solving skits. With all the important business out of the way, we could finally let loose. We played some rousing rounds of “Have You Ever?” that lead to quite a few, yours truly included, being forced to sing “I’m a Little Teapot”. From there, we cupid-shuffled away and signed tshirts. My New York shaped splotches were quite the hot commodity.

After the girls were dismissed, my parents and Eileen arrived. Work schedules kept all three from not coming up sooner, but they were glad to get there in time for the busy Saturday morning.

Saturday morning I got the girls going with some stretches, always a sight to see when I’m wearing a pencil skirt and heels. Hayley finished teaching the girls the dance, and I took over with interview mini-sessions. The stage was a little smaller than we were used to, so Sunny took over poise mini-sessions, switching up the walk and talk a little bit.

From rehearsal, girls got to have a nice formal lunch while I ate with the judges. For interviews, girls had two interviews with two judges at a time for three minutes each. We were so oddly well prepared for everything that there wasn’t much to do, and interviews felt a little slow going. However, it gave us a nice opportunity to chat with the girls while trying to ease their nerves. Poise went well, even though it was a little out of the ordinary for us to have the girls wait outside before entering the stage. We took pictures with most of the girls before heading off to a fun dinner at Tully’s.

That evening the banner girls and I ran the skits. We had quite an audience turnout for the entertainment extravaganza, and judging by the girls costumes and props featuring bathrobes, pipe cleaners, brooms, and mini shampoo bottles, we were in for quite a show. The five skits were very creative, and the girls did a really great jobs. We had some wonderful actresses in our bunch!

After the big show, we had another dance rehearsal and started to go over what would happen during finals the next day. The girls had worked really hard, so I wanted to give them a surprise. I gave each of my girls a little bag with some candy and a pink glow-in-the-dark bracelet, so they could all remember the weekend. It was still fairly early, so we played a game of “Murder” before the girls went off to bed.

I spent the rest of the night with titleholders, Sunny, and the moms, and we had a really fun time.

Sunday was the big day, my last day as Miss Teen of New York! There were a lot of emotions that were going through me. I was excited that another girl was going to have the amazing opportunities that I’ve had, and I couldn’t wait to find out who it was going to be. But I was still sad that it was coming to an end. Afterall, it won’t be much longer until I’m handing off my Miss Teen of America title…

Rehearsal didn’t start until midmorning, so we got to sleep in a little bit. All the girls were dressed in their red, white, and pink as we ran through the rest of what finals would be. We had to change our plans around a little bit, since the rain didn’t like our previous plans of having the girls enter from outside.

At 2 p.m., the Miss Teen of New York candidates rushed down the aisles! It hit me really hard that this could be the last time I see “Dancin’ in the Aisles” performed live! Inconceivable! The girls then did a little cheer about themselves, and the audience learned that our girls ate some very interesting things as children… Once back in formal wear, the girls were asked to talk on stage about their greatest influence, their future goals, or the greatest issue facing teens. And then, the top six were announced! The girls had quite a lot on their plate, as they answered questions from their paperwork, a fishbowl question, and walked poise once again. A few awards were handed out and then, six became three. The top three faced the soundproof booth. I gave my farewell speech. Even though it was only my first farewell speech, I still cried like a baby. I wasn’t the only one. Sunny was all waterworks. (I’ll post video and the entire original speech - unedited - in the next blog.) And then it was announced that my replacement, the new Miss Teen of New York, would be…a 15 year-old from Lakewood, Kenzie Sandberg!

Kenzie was just shocked. There was such a look of joy on her face as she grabbed at her first runner-up Amanda Berg for a hug. I still remember how it feels. It’s crazy, and wonderful. Kenzie pulled me into a big hug next, and then she got her first lesson in smiling for lots and lots of pictures.

After pictures, we went into briefing sessions. I probably threw a few too many helpful hints and suggestions at the Sandbergs, but I’m just so excited for this new experience awaiting Kenzie!

Staff dinner at Chilis was fun, but a little sad. It was so, so hard to leave headquarters and head back home. I became so close to everyone on staff, and it was tough saying goodbye, knowing that I wouldn’t see them until at least Thanksgiving…when I hand over the title of Miss Teen of America.

San Antonio

After the completion of this blog, I will by fully caught up with all my blogging. Phew.

You see, after Australia, I was home for about two weeks before heading back to the airport to jump on a plane to San Antonio. Two weeks of make-up homework, tests, unpacking, packing, and sleeping. So by the time the weekend I’m about to tell you about was finished, I just had SO MUCH to blog about, and not enough time. The blogs just kept getting away from me as I did more events, until we end up here, ten months later. But at least we made it!

So, on Thanksgiving Day 2009, I, unaccompanied by my parents due to their work restrictions, started off towards San Antonio for the Distinguished Youth of Texas Pageants. I had a layover in Detroit, where I met up with Steffanie. I hadn’t seen Steffanie in TWO WHOLE WEEKS, so we were very glad to see each other again. She had brought along her finished Australia scrapbook (she’s a little more on the ball than I am, seeing as I finished the scrapbook two weeks ago) and we reminisced about our travels. The flight was a short one for us, and we were soon in San Antonio, meeting Sunny and Korie at the airport. San Antonio is a beautiful city. Sunny took a quick detour on our way to the hotel, passing by the Alamo Dome, which is where the Miss United States Pageant is held in “Miss Congeniality”.

Once I got settled into my hotel room, and Steffanie set up in the director’s suite, the four of us walked to a restaurant on the river. The river is almost like a canal in San Antonio, with a charming walkway on each side filled with restaurants. With Christmas approaching, it was filled with lights. It looked almost magical. At the restaurant, I had a traditional Thanksgiving dinner of calamari. It was so nice being able to sit and relax with my favorite directors, before the craziness of the impending weekend ensued.

After dinner, we started to meet up with all our Distinguished Youth Family. I love all of them! Upon spotting Kim Tuttle, I ran at her full speed, and jumped her. I hadn’t seen her in a full year! Kim and I ended up sharing a room, so we spent the night gabbing and catching up.

In the morning, we had our first staff meeting. Everyone was assigned a job for that afternoon’s check-in of the 200-plus girls. I was a greeter. I stood on the second floor and directed the families to where they needed to be. I answered questions, calmed nerves, and took lots of pictures with the very, very excited girls…some who remembered me from last year’s pageant! I love getting to meet our bright, young achievers. Plus, Texas girls are so spunky!

After check-in and briefing session, I helped judged Little Miss Optional Events. I believe that night was talent and lip-synching, if I’m not mistaken. We had a lot of talented girls, a few of which I remembered from the year before.

Saturday morning began with a staff meeting and a breakfast of Chic-Fil-A! I love the southern half of the United States. From there, since I will never be coordinated enough to choreograph “When You’re Smilin’” or “All-America All the Way”, I made the rounds and checked in to see how things were doing. The girls are so silly, especially during their dance breaks. I stuck around to watch mini-sessions. Note to all our teen candidates: If you think you’re nervous about interviews or poise, imagine being a seven-year old.

Kim and I changed into our interview wear to run and have lunch with the judges in the hotel restaurant. We had a great time schmoozing and answering their questions, but we may have misjudged how much time we had for lunch before we had to emcee poise. This may be because we forgot about the huge lines for the elevator. Not wanting to be rude, we waited our turn to make it up to our room, where we quickly changed into formal wear. Let’s just say that by the time we made it to poise, Sunny wasn’t too thrilled to see us. Kim and I have been mindful of elevator wait times ever since.

Poise went smoothly from there on out, and after many pictures with candidates, we had another night of optional events waiting for us. Sportswear. Westernwear. You name it. Saturday night is always a late night, no matter what pageant it is. While our candidates were snug in their beds, visions of finals dancing in their heads, we were up doing final things on the to-do list and watching the “Total Eclipse of the Heart” literal video late into the night.

Sunday! Sunday morning means final dance rehearsals. And waiting. Lots of waiting for our two finals programs. Little Miss of Texas was up first, in which returning favorite Maddie Matlock won. I can’t wait until Maddie is on staff this year! She was such a help backstage for Young Miss of Texas, in which Shelby Bellah won.

After the many, many staff pictures taken, briefing sessions went underway and we started to sort through the mess that was headquarters. As soon as possible, we made our way to the best part of the weekend…staff dinner! Without a Cheesecake Factory close by, we made due with the Hard Rock Café. Our 30-plus person staff had to be split up at different tables, but it was okay, because we still took total control of that restaurant. The best part of dinner was celebrating the birthday of Tim (Sam) Kinnaird, one of the brothers on staff. Our waitress brought him up on the grand staircase, and shoved a whole whipped cream pie in his face! There was a whole set-up to it, but the look on his face was just hilarious!

From dinner, we walked to the Alamo. It was gorgeous and ethereal at night. All the banners caused quite a scene. It was so exciting because the Alamo is this huge symbol for an important moment in our nation’s history…and it was in “Miss Congeniality”. I had a lot of fun pretending to be Sandra Bullock, leaping into a crowd. All the moms put on their daughter’s banners for pictures. Kim and I took pictures with our “boyfriends”. It was so much fun.

At the hotel, we said goodnight to everyone. Kim, the directors, and I decided to go for a late night dip in the pool. As is DYA tradition, we had to jump in with our clothes on. We caused quite the spectacle, as usual.

In the morning, I had a nice goodbye breakfast with Kim and Rita Tuttle at Denny’s. I miss them! The rest of the day, my very sore throat and I helped Sunny and Steffanie pack everything up. The weekend had destroyed me. We were all kind of a wreck. We drove to the airport together and stayed with each other until the very last minute…right up until they had to call my name to get on board! I was sad to say goodbye. It would be a long time until we saw each other again.

Australia Days Nine and Ten: Bridge Climbing and Goodbye Crying

Sunday. Such a sad day in Wagga.

Steffanie and I woke up early and finished our packing. It was a beautiful morning outside, so we had our last family meal outside on the deck. Everyone seemed too sad to say goodbye. Even Monty, our family dog, looked a little down. It was a nice breakfast, nonetheless, despite the fact that I was finally forced to ingest the Aussie favorite, Vegemite. I took one bite, screamed in agony, and threw the rest of my toast to Monty, which cheered him up. At least I can say I tried it!

We packed ourselves into the car and headed to the one gate Wagga Wagga airport. Sally Taber, the now former Miss Wagga Wagga, was working the check-in desk at the airport. As we waited for our flight, all sorts of our new friends from throughout the week came to say goodbye. There were a lot of hugs, and a lot of tears. Steffanie and Deidre were the absolute worst offenders! They were a mess. I mostly kept it together, up until we took our final family portrait, and I had to say goodbye to Leah, my Aussie twin sister. You know, when we first set out for this adventure, I was primarily excited to see the Sydney I had always seen on TV and in the movies. I had no idea that I would fall in love with Wagga Wagga. As our prop plane took off, and the Wagga countryside got smaller and smaller below us, all Steffanie and I could talk about was when we would get back to our Australian home.

We were pretty sad on the plane. Even the fact that we had the same crazy stewardess didn’t really help. We were excited when we touched down in Sydney once again, but the dreary, rainy skies didn’t seem to help lift our spirits.

We made our way to our new hotel, the Old Sydney Holiday Inn. It was gorgeous, and located right within Sydney’s historic Rocks section of town. The Rocks is where the original Australian “settlers” first built their new homes. With windy little cobble stone streets and old taverns, it’s an adorable part of town, if not a little spooky. Every Sunday, there’s a huge street fair in The Rocks, so after we freshened up in the hotel, we headed straight to it. Wagga had lightened our suitcases a little, so we could finally souvenir shop to our heart’s content. We came across so really cool crafts and some delicious food samples. We made our way back to the beautiful Circular Quay for some more shopping.

On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at a rustic looking tavern for lunch. We savored our last potato wedges with sour cream and sweet chili sauce. (If you’re ever looking for a fairly authentic sweet chili sauce, I just discovered Frank’s Red Hot new sauce.)

We stopped at the hotel to drop off our purchases, and prepared for the climb of our lives!

My future Appalachian Trail hikes aside, I’m not really known for my adventurous side. That’s why I’m so proud of my Sydney Harbor Bridge Climb! I’ve always been very scared of heights, but after seeing Mary Kate and Ashley’s “Our Lips Are Sealed” when I was eight years old, I had always wanted to do the Bridge Climb. Steffanie and I walked to the very modern BridgeClimb building to sign-in. We killed time with looking at their celebrity wall of fame. Everyone from the cast of Glee, to Lance Armstrong, to the Osbournes, to Daniel Radcliffe (!) had made the climb. We had a bit of a wait, but we soon joined our fellow climbers for our training. Our climb instructor, who was really cool, took us through all the steps. We put on our gray jumpsuits, our safety belts, and started to attach all our gear to it. We got special handkerchiefs, headlamps, earpieces, and other cool gadgetry. He had us practice on an indoor course, and then we were ready to make our way to the bridge!

Steffanie and I had chosen to take the twilight bridge climb. (No vampires allowed.) As we made our way out on the initial level, I have to say I was a little worried. But I began to get a feel for it, and I could enjoy the views of the soon to be setting sun. I didn’t really enjoy the various ladders we had to climb straight up to get to the top levels, but I slowly soldiered on. I really enjoyed myself as we got to the main arch, and our guide began to tell us the history of the bridge. It was all just so fascinating. As the sun set, Sydney began to light up. We could see the opera house, the carnival grounds, and Sydney Tower. As we made it to the top, I had never felt so accomplished, or invigorated. We took various pictures at the top, as you can see above. I absolutely loved it up there. Sadly, we had to start our way back down. By the time we made it back down from our two hour climb, to the other side of the bridge, it was completely dark.

We unsuited and I had to bid farewell to my gray jumpsuit. Before we made our way out, we were stopped by our guide, who had me sign a photo release. It had been revealed during the climb who Steffanie and I were, so our guide said they may use my picture as Miss Teen of America for their celebrity wall of fame!

We had worked pretty hard during the climb, but it was our last night in Australia, and Steffanie and I just weren’t that tired! We decided to explore and found our way back to Circular Quay, where we picked up some gelato for a late dinner. Back at the hotel, we headed up to the roof to take some last pictures of the gorgeous Sydney skyline.

Monday wasn’t a great day. It was unbearable sad. We were still missing our Wagga friends, but know we were being forced out of Australia! We had breakfast in the hotel, dragging out feet and delaying as much as possible until we had to absolutely go to Sydney International Airport.

No troubles with security at the airport, so we had enough time to explore the shops a little bit. But, too soon, we had to get on our huge jet that would be our home for the next 14 hours on our way back to L.A. I wasn’t too productive on the plane, watching a ton of movies and creating a list that I’ll post below. I was not a happy camper in L.A.X. Mostly because I don’t care for L.A.X, we were exhausted, I was completely broke save for some Australian change, and I missed Australia! Our layover seemed to take forever. I was better in Atlanta airport, because I love Atlanta. And Steffanie bought me some Starbucks. Steffanie’s was trying to get on a later flight so that she could go visit Sunny, but it didn’t work. We parted ways, and I got on my flight to Buffalo, where I promptly feel asleep (almost on the shoulder of the woman next to me) as soon as the plane took off. I awoke just as we flew over Lake Erie and my 27 hours of travel came to an end. It was Monday morning when we left Sydney, and it was late Monday night when I got home. It was the longest Monday of my entire life.

Here, I’ve typed out my handwritten list of why Steffanie and I shouldn’t have left Australia:
1. I have no ambition to write my HP/Twilight op-ed.
2. I don’t fell like writing all those blogs. Because there’s too much wonderfulness to write. It will make me sad.
3. I don’t have any Carmello Koalas.
4. I’m really behind on English and Calc. It would be easier to just not do it.
5. I’m really behind on college apps, so I’ll just go to Charles Sturt.
6. The family can move out here. We can all be waitresses and make $18 an hour.
7. I’ll be 18 in 2 months.
8. The tomato sauce packets are cuter.
9. Pavlova.
10. The potato wedges are crispier.
11. I never saw a platypus!
12. I miss the Tomes.
13. We never had our Heath Ledger marathon.
14. I never bought that Warata passport cover.
15. I never saw Canberra.
16. I need to see a crow in the city of crows.
17. The video Delta spokeswoman scares me.

So, there you have it. After only 10 months, I have finished my chronicles of my adventures in Australia! I just hope they won’t be my only adventures…

Australia Day Eight: Base Visiting and Title Giving

Saturday was one of our busiest in Wagga Wagga. Afterall, it was the whole reason for the trip!

Steffanie, Deidre, Phillip, and I woke up early and headed over to the Kapooka Military Base. Please bear with me from here on out, as I’m a bit of a novice when it comes to military jargon, but I’ll try my best. Kapooka officers volunteer as escorts for the Miss Wagga Wagga contestants, so during the dress rehearsal, one of the officers invited us to the base to see a march-out of all the soldiers who completed their first training. Steffanie’s an army brat, but I had never been on an army base in my life. My military knowledge is generally limited to CNN and Army Wives, so I was really excited to see the real thing, especially to see how Australia runs their military.

We were met at the front gate by the very nice officer who invited us and he provided us with VIP passes to get us throughout the base. We were lead to a band stand area to watch the march-out. It was very impressive. It started with an Australian national anthem and the troops were then lead through different drills, before awards were given out to soldiers who had excelled at different skills during their training. This would have been interesting enough, but we received some extra entertainment as well. A kangaroo decided to join the ceremony and run along the outskirts of the asphalt, back and forth. I had been in Australia for eight days, but that was my first wild kangaroo sighting! I was told that kangaroo are like our deer. When its gets hot, and the grass begins to dry out, the kangaroos will search for any available grass to eat. Kapooka is a prime feeding spot for them because not only does the base water its grass, the base isn’t allowed to shoot the kangaroos because they’re Australia’s national animal. It would be like shooting a bald eagle on an America base. It can’t be done.

Following the march-out, the officer took us to the base’s command post, where we met with other officers, got to see some of the historic artifacts on base, and had morning tea. The officer then decided that the best way for us to see the base would be to take his military-issued vehicle off-roading. It was so much fun! We stopped to see the base’s chapel, with three different altars, the new high ropes courses, the beautiful views, and a few more wild kangaroos!

We then attended the official award ceremony for the new soldiers and their families. It was so interesting seeing the displays Australian patriotism. At the end of our visit, our officer tour guide presented us with Kapooka coins, to thank us for our ambassadorial visit. I know the American military has similar coins for honor and service, and its quite an honor to receive one.

From the base, we headed to the Wagga Wagga Botanic Gardens. They’re extremely impressive, with different garden environments from around the world and a petting zoo. I quite enjoyed the Chinese garden, built with the help from Wagga Wagga’s Chinese sister city, and the Shakespeare garden. As for the petting zoo, we’re not talking just goats and ducks here. I’m talking kangaroos and adorable joeys, who kept hopping in and out of their mothers’ pouches. The Botanic Gardens also had a beautiful bird aviary, filled with peacocks and all sorts of Australian birds. Before leaving the gardens, Deidre lead us to a picturesque white pavilion which housed a plaque with the names of all the Miss Wagga Waggas, from Thena Karofilis in 1949 to Sally Taber in 2009.

We headed home from there to prepare for the main event: the crowning of Miss Wagga Wagga 2010!

We got to the park early to make sure everything was in place and beautiful. The ceremony opened with a blessing allowing us to use the land for the ceremony from a local Aboriginal tribal leader. Her son, dressed in the traditional sneakers and khaki shorts, played the didgeridoo. I love the didgeridoo! Each of the presenters, the candidates, and myself were lead out on the red carpet to the top of the hill by an officer. I was escorted by Lee, a very nice officer from Kapooka.

As the ceremony got underway, Sally and Nikki gave their farewell speeches and I gave my speech about my wonderful experiences in Wagga. I finished my speech by wishing the new titleholders good luck, and then announced the winners. The Community Princess 2010 was Brodie Fisher and Miss Wagga Wagga 2010 was Tamara Hope!

After a lot of hugs and pictures, we made our way to the Murrumbidgee Turf Club for the after party. That was a lot of fun! The Kapooka Military Band played and there was a ton of great food! I gave the former and current titleholders my gifts for them - a foam Statue of Liberty crown, along with some Buffalo staples like maple syrup and hot sauce. We posed for a lot of pictures and we just spent the evening talking and schmoozing. Lee, my escort at the ceremony, presented Steffanie with an Australian military hat. It was really amazing. I used this time to say goodbye to a lot of people we had gotten close with over the past week.

Before heading home from the party, Deidre and Phillip took Steffanie and I to Wagga’s look out point. It was a beautiful starry night, and you could see all of Wagga down below. It was a beautiful way to end a great day, especially since we would be leaving the next day.

At home, the whole family got together to watch Deep Impact, the movie about a meteor crashing to earth. It was sad, we were sad. I went to bed that night not wanting to think about leaving in the morning.

Miss Teen of Pennsylvania Pageant

As of this past weekend, a new summer pageant season is now upon us!

The first of this summer’s Miss Teen of America pageants was the Miss Teen of Pennsylvania Pageant, held at Bloomsburg University from Friday, July 23rd to Sunday, July 25th.

It takes quite a bit of time and a lot of work to have everything set up for when candidates check-in Friday night, so I made my way down to Pennsylvania with my dad and my best friend Eileen Hayes Thursday morning. Eileen has been mentioned quite a few times on this blog because she was the one who initially convinced me to go out for Miss Teen of New York. She also competed for Miss Teen of New York in 2008, and due to an extra Outstanding Achievement plaque that weekend, was chosen by our director Korie as “Miss Congeniality”. Anyone who met Eileen in Pennsylvania can figure out why she was given that award.

We got to Bloomsburg by about 2 o’clock, and immediately set out to find our contact at the college who had our keys and boxes shipped down from headquarters for us. Once everything was in our possession, we began to set up headquarters in Columbia Hall, our home away from home for the weekend. As we began to unpack, I was reunited with the one and only Miss Teen of Oklahoma…Kim Tuttle! I hadn’t seen Kim since Thanksgiving, which was just too, too long. We were all starving, so we stopped at Applebees for dinner, where we got a chance to catch up, before heading to the required Wal-Mart Adventure to get food, lots of Coke Zero, poster board, and the lovely flower wrapping paper we used to cover the glass doors to headquarters. (No peeking allowed into headquarters!)

We got back to Columbia and really got busy setting things up. Once gifts were wrapped, programs were stuffed, windows were covered, and so forth, we killed time until Sunny, that weekend’s pageant director, drove in from the airport. Kim decided to be productive and do homework. Eileen and I watched “A Very Potter Sequel” on YouTube. Sunny finally got in at about 12:30, and we quickly caught up and watched our favorite YouTube video, for the first of many times that weekend. At about 2 am, we decided to finally pack it in and head to bed. Being the gracious girls we are, Eileen, Kim, and I showed Sunny where her room was. Unbeknownst to Sunny, we had a little surprise waiting for her. Once the guy at the front desk had left at 11 pm, the three of us had snuck a model skeleton (that we named Freddie) that we found in a study cubicle inside headquarters up the elevator to Sunny’s room. There, we positioned it, complete with my Miss Teen of America banner. You should have heard Sunny’s scream when she opened her door!

In the morning, we prepared a few more things, stopping at Bloomin’ Bagel for breakfast and then Wal-Mart once again for a few odds and ends. (Did you know that we were really in the hills?) As the 2 pm staff meeting approached, more and more of the staff started to appear. I got to meet Sam Walter, our Miss Teen of Indiana, and her mother Kathy for the first time. Then there was Evalyn Kennedy, the current Miss Teen of Pennsylvania and her friend, Kelly McCauley. Finally there was Ari Salla, a former Miss Teen of Pennsylvania candidate who promised to help out that weekend.

Staff meeting went well, and we headed to Panera Bread for a quick bite to eat, complete with our banners. Before we knew it, our 95 candidates and their families began to show up for check-in. I manned the Optional Events table with Ari, and I can easily say that we had some very talented girls! After check-in, we made our way to the briefing session. Something Pennsylvania candidates may not have caught during the briefing session was my little crying spurt. No, Sunny’s words didn’t move me to tears. The spotlights were so bright right above Sunny’s head that whenever I would look at her, my contacts would start to dry out! Soon, my eyes were welling up with tears, and I attempted to hold them back, but they spilled out, just as Sunny was warning girls about “No boys and no alcohol”. I swear, I wasn’t crying over the lack of boys and liquor!

Sunny stayed with the parents while the rest of staff and I lead the girls to the Get Acquainted Party. After introducing the candidates to “Dancin’ in the Aisles”, each girl on staff took 13 girls and started playing name games, so we could get to know each other. I have to say it worked, because throughout the weekend, I felt so close to the girls in my “Team Awesome” group. There was Olivia who liked oranges, Claire who liked cats, Jessica who could juggle, Brittany who was going to start bow hunting, and many more. A game of Two Truths and A Lie revealed my over the top Brooklyn accent to the girls, based on the accent of my boss at Geoffano’s. We then got all staff and 95 girls to join in on one huge game of “Have You Ever”, which caused a few injuries, but you can’t say that the girls weren’t excited! We added some new rules to the game, namely, that if you got in the middle three times, you had to sing “I’m a Little Teapot”. Guess who was tricked into being in the middle three times? Yep, me. I got requests for “I’m a Little Teapot” all weekend long after that. From there, we cranked the music, signed t-shirts, and danced the night away. Or, if you’re Kim Tuttle, you did all three at once.

As girls ordered pizzas until late in the night, Jenna, a student worker on campus, proved to be a godsend, helping coordinate. We love Jenna! She played Hagrid for the weekend, as she was keeper of the master key. She also showed us the secret projection screen in headquarters, which proved super helpful during that night’s YouTube viewing.

Saturday morning we were up early for breakfast in Scranton Commons and dance rehearsal. The girls really seemed the pick up the dance, under direction of Kim Tuttle, very quickly. Kim and I started interview mini sessions, and I got to show off my comedic skills. I hate taping things, so we waited for Sunny to start poise mini sessions, where more hilarity ensued.

We had a quick lunch in the very congested commons, and then the girls began to line up for interviews. Four girls entered at a time, and each talked with two judges at a table. Among the judges was Kristin Konski, Miss Teen of Pennsylvania 2002-2003. It went very smoothly, with my comforting high-fives, and Eileen entertaining the judges with her dance skills. No one cried, which is always a good thing, and girls actually left the room of judging horror saying that it was fun, and they wished that it could have lasted longer than three minutes.

From there, everyone threw on their dress for poise and headed back to the Haas Center. We had such a variety of dresses, and all of our girls just looked so proud and happy. I emceed first, then Kim, then Sam. Poor Evalyn had to walk back and forth for all 95 girls. Blisters were abounding! I’m known to be pretty good in heels, but even I had to take a heel hiatus after standing through my 32 poise emcees.


Next was dinner in commons. I always really enjoy mealtimes, since I get a chance to really socialize with the girls and get to talk to them about their lives outside of immediate pageant concerns. That night, I found myself scooping ice cream cones for the girls!

With 23 entries, everyone was really excited for that night’s talent show. Until it actually started, that is. The Haas Center is a state-of-the-art theater, but the girl’s Cds were not. This proved to be a problem, when we sent girls out on stage, only for no music to play. Allie and Randall from the college were so great though, checking the Cds over and over, and finding alternative ways to play them. Dad got quite a few rounds of applause for moving chairs off and on stage. There were a few breaks and goof-ups, and I think the audience grew a little tired of the technical difficulties, but the show went on! In the end, we had some amazing singers, dancers, break dancers, instrumentalists, color guard routines, and tumblers. Another thing the girls may not have caught that weekend was when I was trying to do my impromptu “stand-up” at the microphone during one of the breaks, I thought they were shouting out for me to perform some “Tupac”, rather than “Teapot”. Ahh, the hilarity.

There was dance rehearsal following the talent show, and from there we were supposed to head back to the dorms. However, a tornado warning and torrential rains kept us stuck in Haas for a few additional hours. It was like some pageant version of Survivor.

Once we were safe, we met in the Fireside Room for an important announcement. It was Olivia JINGEREWSKI’s birthday, so her mom had dropped off cupcakes for everyone. It was a great way to end a crazy day.

We slept in a bit on Sunday. We were exhausted, after all. Our staff meeting that morning went over everything for the final show that afternoon. After stowing my finals dress in the green room, and subsequently getting a little lost, I made my way to my final meal with my girls. During brunch, girls and I discussed the weekend, and about finals.

We had our final rehearsal, brought our Fake Top Ten out on stage, and sent the girls off to go get ready for finals. Staff and I chilled backstage in the green room, getting ready and going over what was to be done during finals.

Before we knew it, it was 3 pm, and the music was cued for “Dancin’ in the Aisles”. The girls did an amazing job. I went out and explained about the program, judging criteria, and the judges’ bios. Basically, I was killing time until the candidates could make it back for Parade of Candidates. I’m very proud of how much better I’ve gotten at improv time killer jargon in front of large groups of people. I used to get so nervous! I was at the mic a little longer than expected due to a zipper snafu in the dressing room. But all was fixed, and the show went on its way.

There were awards, and spirit letters, and Evalyn’s goodbye. Before we knew it, we had the top five in the secret booth with Sam, rolling on the walls like mental patients, gooing, gaahing, rolling their tongues, and singing nursery rhymes. It was really a sight to see! As silly as it is, it fulfilled its purpose, and the girls did not prematurely hear the question pertaining to social networking sites.

In the end, it was decided. Hayley Fisher is the new Miss Teen of Pennsylvania! Congratulations!

After lots of pictures, we headed to headquarters for new titleholder briefing. Judging by our talk with Hayley and her parents (and her adorable grandmother), we can expect some really great things from our new Miss Teen of Pennsylvania!

It was time for our favorite part of the weekend…staff dinner! (Just kidding, candidates! We love spending time with you!) We went to this delicious Italian restaurant in town, La Fontana, where Hayley’s family also ended up. We took staff pictures, with Hayley, in front of a beautiful fountain in the town square.

Dad, Eileen, and I packed up, and headed home. (That is, after Eileen mistook her reflection in a mirror packed in back of the Jeep for someone hiding in the back of the Jeep.) It was so sad to say goodbye…but we’re even more excited for Miss Teen of New York in a few weeks!

Australia Day Seven: Quest Judging and Wiggles-Relating

And, we’re back in Australia. Only in the blogging world, sadly, though.

Odd as it may seem, I only have one picture from that Friday because we were just so BUSY! And there’s no way I could ever, ever post that picture, because it shows Steffanie exaggerating the hay fever she got after we rode the harvestors, and she would absolutely fly to New York and murder me in my sleep.

But, on to the day’s events.

We woke up fairly early and headed over to the same hotel that the anniversary dinner had been held at for the final piece of the Miss Wagga Wagga Quest judging: interviews.

I was ushered upstairs to a conference room to meet with the other judges, while Steffanie and Deidre stayed in the lobby to welcome the candidates as they arrived for their interview appointment time, and to do some secret judging.

My fellow judges were very impressive. There were two people from the local business community, a former Miss Wagga Wagga, and an high up executive from Quantas, Australia’s largest airline and a long-time supporter of the Quest. Before the first interview, we went over the questions we would ask, divvied them out among ourselves, and agreed that we could ask whatever follow-up questions we deemed necessary. I was to ask each candidate how they would describe certain Australian current events and hot topics to foreigners, such as myself. Afterall, the Miss Wagga Wagga and Community Princess of this year’s Quest would be going on a trip to Germany!

The interviews soon got underway. Each interview was about 30 minutes long, which is quite a bit of time for these girls to get grilled! I felt very comfortable interviewing the candidates, seeing as I’ve had experience interviewing at Miss Teen and Distinguished Youth of Texas. It was a slightly different experience, seeing as the candidates weren’t teens or kids. But I could identify with their jitters and nerves, as I’ve gone through a similar interview process many times now.

The interviews were nice because I got to know the girls more. I had met most of them at official events throughout the week, but hadn’t gotten the chance to really talk to a lot of them. I got to know where they worked, what they supported, and what they thought about Wagga Wagga.

At the end of the day’s interviews, the judges and I had to deliberate. It wasn’t easy. There was a lot riding on our scores, as this was the final judging the girls would face before the next day’s Miss Wagga Wagga Quest ceremony. They had worked extremely hard from May until November, and whoever would win on Saturday could count on their life being greatly impacted.

Phillip met up with Deidre, Steffanie, and myself once judging finished. We headed over to a giant arts and crafts fair that was being held, featuring lots of products unique to Wagga Wagga. We then had to run some last minute errands to prepare for the next day’s big ceremony! Before heading home, we stopped at the pharmacy to get something to hopefully help Steffanie with her hay fever. As it turns out, the pharmacist was the mother of one of The Wiggles. (Rumor has it, the yellow one.) Only in Wagga Wagga, right?

We returned to the Tome home for a nice family night. We prepared some things for the next day, I worked on my speech for the final ceremony, and we just enjoyed each other’s company for one of the last times!