Miss Hill City

Tomorrow begins the next step of my journey in the Miss America system: rehearsal for Miss Hill City.

I am so blessed that many of my close friends will be in attendance, as this town of Lynchburg is itself "the hill city"! I am so genuinely excited about this opportunity, and I feel so excited about the opportunity to give back in an even bigger way to this community.


Wish me the best of luck. The interviews are Saturday afternoon and the pageant starts at 7 PM Saturday... I will update you all once it finishes and I get to enjoy my college's fall formal, which I have spent three months planning as president of the Macon Activities Council.


I also want to send a huge thank you out to Elizabeth Pryor, who donated $100 towards my efforts and the Children's Miracle Network the day I signed on for Miss Hill City. I have been so lucky to interact with many strong and intelligent R-MWC alums, and Elizabeth's patience with my busy schedule and her fun, witty emails always make my day better.


To my friends Audra, Whitney, Nada, Vanessa, Melanie, my coworkers Lauren Hlava and Lani, my boss Amanda Denny, and all my R-MWC supporters, thank you for the constant encouragement and belief in me as I go after my dream. You all are such great friends and I couldn't have selected a better place for my education.

In other news:
I'm long overdue for a politics post in this election season (especially with the mudslinging of Clinton all over the place!) but I'll put it off. A few days ago, I had my senior political science paper approved. I have two majors and therefore have to write two senior papers. I am researching the importance of coercive diplomacy in Bosnia as a case study reflecting greater changes in military strategy after the end of the Cold War, and I'm really excited about doing a research paper in this area that I really enjoy.

I'm also working hard on an econometrics project that will develop into my economics senior paper, looking at a regression to examine the wage gap in Eastern Germany for men and women in three periods: under Soviet control, post-unification, and currently (economic integration with Europe). Since my interests are military strategy and European policy, I think both my senior papers will be great preparation for graduate school. Although I will continue to study politics, I am so glad that I have learned the rigorous economics that help to set up models to create and evaluate policy, as I feel this is a lacking tool for many policy-makers today.

One more piece of good news! Last week I received my acceptance letter to the American Culture program, a special 12 credit seminar next semester to study consumerism in America and traveling across the U.S. to study a few specific examples. I feel this will be an excellent complement to my ten months abroad in England, and be a wonderful experience for me! I am really honored to be chosen and can't wait to participate, and as usual, I'll use my blog to share this journey.

I owe one more post explaining "Never Ending Weekend", the event into which my blood, sweat, and tears has been poured the last few months. It's a big RMWC tradition and has taken a lot of time, but I am looking forward to seeing it pulled off and be able to enjoy it my senior year. It's so hard to believe that I am one semester away from graduation. Sometimes when I look back on what the last three and a half years has meant to me, I can't even believe what all has transpired and what I have learned over the course of my education. As my mother always says 'you can't always let your education get in the way of your education' and I have learned as much here in the classroom as out of it.


Speaking of my mother, a few more thank you's before this weekend:


Tony: for everything
Michael: for the constant laughs and support
Mom: For always believing I can do it, and being an outstanding mother that I will always treasure!


Now, I'm off for a good night of sleep, last minute preparation, and PAGEANT WEEKEND!

Wish me luck!