Miss Missouri Recap

Hello everyone! I hope you have all been enjoying your summer and spending time doing the things you love. This blog post will be slightly unconventional as I will be focusing less on the topic of nutrition and more on sharing with you all how my experience competing at the Miss Missouri competition was! 

​As many of you know already, this blog was born in January of 2020 as I was competing to win a local title that would qualify me to compete at the state competition for Miss Missouri. My social impact initiative, Healthy Nutrition for a Stronger Generation, is the name of this blog site and what I have spent time developing and promoting since the beginning of my Miss Missouri journey!  

On June 13th, I arrived at the Missouri Military Academy to stay in the dorms and experience one roller coaster of a week! The candidates competing had rehearsals all day Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, and our first night of preliminary competition was Wednesday. The week was filled with luncheons, cocktail parties, learning opening/closing numbers, and of course the actual shows themselves! After all of the preparation I have put in over the past year and a half, I can confidently say that I showed the judges every piece of my personality and my mission to highlight the importance of nutrition shined through in each phase of competition.  

After competing in private interview, evening gown, talent, and social impact initiative pitch/onstage question, I am proud to say I was called in the Top Ten contestants, earning me a $1500 scholarship and memories that will last a lifetime. Through this organization, I have learned the life skills of professionalism, public speaking, and stage presence that I will carry with me forever. I also gained some unique friendships that I look forward to maintaining for years to come! I have included the social impact initiative pitch I gave onstage below, which I feel is a great summary of my goal to educate others about nutrition through this experience: 

"The new American Heart Association guidelines call for less than 6 teaspoons of added sugar per day for children aged 2-18. But the average teenager consumes more than 28 teaspoons of added sugar every single day! One bottle of ketchup is 25% sugar, and no, that doesn’t count towards your child’s daily allowance of vegetables. As a dietetics student with a strong passion for nutrition, I am excited to educate others on what a proper plate of food looks like. Youth of today need to know what a healthy diet consists of, and childhood nutrition needs to be revamped with better choices. Join me in advocating for healthy nutrition for a stronger generation!”  
 
To conclude, I want to say this: if you are considering stepping out of your comfort zone to have an opportunity to grow and build on important skills-do it!  I am so glad I took that step with the Miss Missouri Organization, and I look forward to carrying what I have learned into my future career as a dietitian. And of course, if you are thinking about competing for Miss Missouri, please reach out! I would love to talk to you about it and share my tips and tricks for success! As for this blog, I will continue writing about nutrition topics that are close to my heart, but this time without the crown!  

​Thank you for joining me on my journey! 

-Ashley Voeller; Miss St. Charles County 2020/2021