While the time between Christmas and New Year’s is usually one of relaxation, social gatherings with old friends, and simply unwinding, I decided to go the opposite route: trained and competed in the Miss Chicago/Miss Windy City 2019 competition on December 29th.
For those of you who don’t know my background, my involvement with the Miss America Organization began at the age of 17 when I placed first runner up for the state teen title as Miss Northern Suburbs’ Outstanding Teen 2012. After aging up to the Miss division I held the titles of Miss Gold Coast 2016 and Miss Northern Suburbs 2017. All of those were great experiences so I always figured I would keep competing until I age out.
And then 2017/2018 happened. With all the changes in the organization, I was hesitant and apprehensive about competing again. Although I loved the idea of the new changes and competition format, I honestly thought being too used to the old format for the past six years would be a disadvantage in competing.
Well, after competing in the 2.0 formatted local, I can honestly tell you that it was wonderful. Here are my biggest takeaways.