An Important Update

An Update:

A long-needed update for my blog readers:

I have elected to not participate any longer in pageants through the Miss America Organization. At this time, I’m considering this my “retirement” from pageants.

When I was 16 years old, a friend dared me to enter a beauty pageant. What followed was a 7-year experience that truly developed me into the person I am today. When I started competing, I had no self-confidence, I was terrified of speaking in front of people, and I walked hunched over because I hated my height.

Only a few people even remember that Laura- close friends who were present those many years ago when I had no self-esteem. I write to you now a month before my 24^th birthday as a teaching assistant, accomplished public speaker, and a confident future PhD.

There were many reasons that brought me to this decision, but at the root of my choice is the fact that I no longer have the desire to be Miss Virginia. My life will go on, and in a direction I look forward to, without that crown, sash, and experience. I truly made the most of both of my local titles, and my journey to the Miss Virginia pageant both times was full of challenges I overcame and hard work. I had a great time and grew so much from this program.

That said, I don’t believe that I have much more to gain from this program. I feel like it’s a curve that eventually hits diminishing marginal returns- while I gained self-confidence at the beginning, it started to fade away at the end. My body is a size ten. I’m 5’11 and 160 pounds- and that’s fine with me. I’m not going to work out three hours a day any more, not going to compromise my health by eating like a bird, and I’m not going to feel bad about the fact that I will never have the body type of many of the girls competing.

This is just no longer my dream. While I really believed in Miss Virginia and my ability to do a great job at it, I just don’t have the overwhelming desire inside me to put the time, work, and immense amount of money it takes to even get to Roanoke again. Last year, my directors and I put in hours and hours of preparation, work, shopping, and packing. I am immensely grateful that for both years, I had people behind me that helped me and believed I could do it. Having been a runner up myself many times, it’s not fair to potentially rob another girl of her dream just for the sake of competing one more time.

At the end of the day, it’s not Laura to be up on stage teetering around in heels trying to get the approval of seven random people about my body or my twenty years of tap dancing. I’m one semester away from getting my master’s, and I’ve just finished my PhD applications. I’m more excited about THAT even though it requires even more hard work. When I think about the potential of heading back to Roanoke, the overwhelming feeling is dread- waking up at 4 AM to hit the gym then a day full of classes, driving 7 hours each week to practice my dance, and battling my body, cutting out medications that help me deal with migraines because they make me gain ten pounds, and then questioning who I am if I get “rejected” for the position.

When I started pageants in 2002, I did them once a year with American Coed Pageants. I always enjoyed this pageant because they celebrated who each girl was and didn’t make anyone feel fat or ugly. I competed at their national pageant in 2006, and I wanted to end where I started- so I returned there this Thanksgiving to compete one more time, where I was named 1^st runner up in talent and 4^th runner up overall. If I ever do another pageant again, it would be this one. I had a great time, enjoyed seeing old friends, and felt like the old Laura.

I’ve met so many wonderful friends through this program and will always hold those relationships close to me.

So, I’m moving on positively and not taking for granted all the special experiences I had as a titleholder and will use that community service to continue working with young women and people interested in tap dancing.

With all this being said, I’m not sure what the future of this blog is. I may not continue writing, I may continue. I’m not sure. But for now, I’m going to take some much needed time off to focus on my research, school, and my life as “Laura” and not as any particular titleholder.

Best of luck to all the women planning to continue to compete.

Echoing an Important Post

I frequently check out Abby B's blog because it's chock full of pageant information and the latest Miss Ohio preliminary results. Her latest post, however, seems pertinent for not only contestants but fans, parents and friends. I think it's important to address this issue because I've known countless people who follow them and take what they say seriously.


The post is about pageant messageboards- otherwise known as places where contestants are trashed, directors are ripped apart, and even teen girls sometimes get made fun of. I remember the first time I ever found them- it was after my second preliminary pageant in Virginia and I had a google alert set to my name. I happened upon an anonymous website where numerous people wrote that I was overweight, untalented, stupid, etc. Here's what I believe- if someone has something to tell you to help you as a contestant, they will find your email or talk to your local director. These messageboards are NOT helpful places to improve and instead are just full of random garbage. My best advice is to just ignore them, particularly if you do win a local and are preparing for state. Focus on your preparation- not some anonymous person's opinion of what's wrong with you. This program is supposed to be about building women up, not ripping them apart. So just ignore them! Believe me you CAN do it :)

Check out Abby's post which talks about this issue.

Graduate Student of the Month

I write this very excited to have been selected as Virginia Tech's graduate student of the month for November, 2009. Feel free to check out the interview at the link below!

Click Here

Your Guide to Grad School: Part 1

Considering graduate school? Now that I've survived an entire year and am well into the process of writing my thesis and applying to PhD programs, I thought it would be helpful to share my perspective.


1. When you're considering programs, make a list of what you're looking for: professors with certain interests, percentage of students who get funded, library size, etc.

2. Contact professors at every school you're applying to. If possible, visit every school. An in-person presence makes a big difference as far as seeing if you really like the place and could up your chances of getting money in the department.

3. Even if you did well in your field as an undergrad, consider reading the basic books of the field the summer before. That way it won't feel like a huge onslaught when you're dumped on with thirty thick theoretical books.

4. Talk to older grad students. My first year, I literally would have been clueless if I didn't follow the lead or ask questions of the second-year students. They were experts on what classes were good, getting summer positions, preparing a thesis committee, and choosing PhD programs.

5. Work as a TA. If you want to be in academia, you need to do this. Maybe working as a TA will clue you in that you DON'T want to teach, but if you're like me, it will confirm your career choice.




More grad school posts on the way...

Virginia Gubernatorial Race

News articles across the country are looking to the Virginia governor’s race.

Why?

In a state where its own residents (including me) are sick of the non-stop ads cluttering up television between the two candidates, this race is about more than who will be governor come January.

Political pundits predict that the outcome of this election will demonstrate where Americans in general stand. Democrats are certainly more subdued this year as opposed to last fall, when they were energized to the point of helping elect Barack Obama. Now, the Republicans are building momentum and in many polls Republican Bob McDonnell is far outleading Creigh Deeds.

Even though many might think Virginia’s recent blue-state status is propelling the Commonwealth towards a more left-leaning political base, that’s not necessarily true. The fact is that Virginia often has a governor of a different party than who is in charge in Washington, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see McDonnell take this race.

Negative ads can have effects on either side of the party line. Negative ads can charge up party faithfuls by making them think that the race is close and they need to get out and vote, or they can irritate the opposite party and get those people out to vote. The fact is, though, it’s an off year. People just don’t come out to vote for governor (and many other offices) when it’s not a presidential year. Maybe people are worn out from last year.

Regardless of the outcome, it is possible that Virginia could be showing the greater thoughts of the rest of the country: concerned with where the administration is taking things, delaying things, or not focusing on and use this to push for change in their own state.

But please, candidates, stop pretending you’re going to be generous with taxes. Virginia’s going to face tremendous financial problems without taxes. Would you rather be honest about the state and try to get elected that way or would you rather promise no new taxes and then break your promise? Wouldn’t that then make it easier for the opposite party to get elected the next time around? Politics is a tricky game.

Congrats Miss Roanoke Valley!

Congratulations to a good friend, Madison Van Duyne, who won the title of Miss Roanoke Valley Saturday night!

Maryland Renaissance Festival

I can't believe how busy things have been! I'm excited to say that my master's thesis research is well under way and currently waiting for approval for the testing of human subjects. I think the result next spring will be something I'm very proud of.

I'm knee deep in PhD applications and GRE flashcards, which is less than fun, but an important stepping stone to my future.

This weekend I spent up in Maryland with my boyfriend and his family visiting a boat show and the Maryland Renaissance Festival. I have to say, the festival blew my mind! I was expecting a few tents and some food vendors; the buildings were instead long-standing and half the size of the world's best amusement park, Cedar Point, near where I grew up. They had incredible shows- sword swallowers, jousting, tightrope walkers. Great food!

John wanted my hair to be braided by the professionals there and it was fantastic! Lots of compliments on it and so nice to have my hair off my face and neck in such a pretty way!

The Festival is open for two more weekends in Crownsville, MD and I highly recommend checking it out!

Announcing an exciting community service project!

I'm happy to announce that a brainchild of mine is going forward as a community service project!

The VT Dress Drive will be collecting dresses from the Tech community, the local area around here, and girls across the state.

Do you have formalwear in your closet that you just can't use anymore? Want to donate it to a good cause?

Caitlin's Closet collects gently used gowns to donate them to girls who need them. The gowns give girls the opportunity to attend special formal events in high school. Everyone wants that chance to participate in these events without the high costs of purchasing expensive gowns!

While cleaning out my own pageant closet a few weeks ago, there were two gowns that just don't fit and I don't need anymore. I know I'm not the only one! If you are a titleholder in the Miss or Teen division in any pageant, please consider contributing to this great cause! I'll be happy to accept gowns though the mail if you contact me at vtdresses@gmail.com

This is a great opportunity to clean out your closet and help somebody else!

Exploring Virginia : Sinkland Farms

The finished products!

A small view of the pumpkin patch


This weekend I visited a very popular local attraction, Sinkland Farms. This farm has an ice cream parlor, petting zoo, pony rides, hay rides, local craft vendors, a corn maze, and a huge pumpkin patch! We were successful in finding two great pumpkins to carve and had a great afternoon. The weather could not have been better.

Sinkland Farms is just outside of Christiansburg, Virginia and well worth your visit. The pumpkin festival happens every weekend until November 8th!

Congrats Anna Reis, Miss Portsmouth!

This weekend in Ohio, my friend Anna Reis won the title of Miss Portsmouth! Anna will be headed to Miss Ohio next June. I've been helping Anna prepare for pageants for over a year, and she is truly a sweet girl! She had only competed in one other Miss Ohio local this year, so I'm really proud of her!


Great job to my favorite Minnie Driver lookalike!

Updates!

I have been extremely busy and have several updates! This last Saturday my boyfriend and I went to go visit Natural Bridge. Even though I lived nearby in Lynchburg for 4.5 years, I never went to go see it! It was absolutely beautiful, and interesting historically. George Washington himself actually surveyed the area and left his initials carved into the rocks. I highly recommend visiting this place. We got a military discount and it worked out to about $23 per person to see the bridge, Native American village, wax museum, caverns, and a toy museum! I suggested going because I didn't know how much longer the good weather would last.




On Tuesday we went up to Arlington for a military funeral of one of John's relatives. Even though it was very sad, it was neat to get to come through the cemetary from a different perspective. There were a fair amount of military funerals happening that day and it was sobering to see the official flag-draped coffins passing by on the walkways. It made me proud to see how many people have given their lives to service.

And Miss VA 08 shaved her head! I'm so proud of Tara for continuing her legacy and doing this. She has done amazing things for children her entire life and her year as Miss Virginia still remains sometime I will always recall with fondness. I was spoiled having her in Roanoke and I'm very proud to call her a friend!


And finally, on top of all my other responsibilities, I'm taking a sewing class! I thought it would be fun since I've only sewed a little in Home Ec in middle school. My grandmother was a wonderful seamstress and since she passed down the tap dancing genes, maybe I got these, too. After struggling to find something easy enough to make in six weeks, I settled on pajama pants. Guess how much length we had to add to the legs to make them fit me? 8 inches! Guess this is the upside to sewing my own pants- they will finally be long enough!

Research and Publishing

During my time in graduate school, one thing that I felt would have been really helpful to me is knowing exactly what to do. There are so many crazy paths and trying to sort out your life (or rather, even have one!) while doing research, teaching, and preparing for your own classes can make you crazy. And if someone doesn't teach you clearly how to do research or write good proposals, you can really get stuck!

So, my blog is going to take a slight turn while still including some pageant-related news. I've found very little general resources for graduate students about all these things that are a key part of our life. Over the next several months, I hope to use my passion for teaching politics to channel that into some posts as well as talking about the ins and outs of getting research done!