Sparkles and Service: reflections.

When I look back at the pictures from this year's National American Miss Pageant, I think of how much I have changed since my first NAM Pageant in 2004!
I still get a little bit of butterflies before I go on stage, but when I am on that stage it is complete, utter comfort and bliss.
This year was different for me because I knew that this was the last time I would be stepping on that NAM New York stage at the Brooklyn Marriott as a state finalist. My focus was so different this year, so strange. I wasn't there to win, I was there to prove to myself, to reinforce, that the young woman I had grown into was confident, poised, articulate, calm, passionate, friendly, and willing to step out of her comfort zone to take a risk that would make a positive impact. And the fact that I wanted to have some well-rounded and positively influencing fun before I started a grueling 8 year journey on my path to becoming a physician.
NAM was all that and more.
Maybe because it was my last year and my mind was more nostalgic and absorbent, but every emotion, experience, and event stays etched in my mind with a type of clarity that makes me marvel in wonder. The people I met, the thoughts exchanged, the moments I shared this weekend - everything reaffirms why I love NAM so very much and why I keep coming back home to my NAMily.
I don't think I have ever been so relaxed and at peace at a pageant like the way I was that weekend. It didn't even feel like a competition- it just felt like a bunch of girls getting together, getting dressed up, and inspiring one another. (Which I guess it technically was.)
When my name was called as the Actress Competition Winner, I knew that I had shown the judges my true personality- my corny, silly, outgoing, and passionate personality. That was the moment I knew that I had exceeded my expectations.
Winning the title of Miss New York Teen was just the icing on the cake and it absolutely means so much to me. The fact that I was given the responsibility to represent some of New York City's finest and fiercest teens is so humbling. I am so excited with everything that is lined up for the upcoming year.
The biggest thing I will remember this weekend are the girls I got to know and spend time with and that took the time to come up to me after the pageant and give me some great words of congratulations and encouragement. The most special one was when a new friend told me that she wasn't even upset that she hadn't won the crown because it had gone to someone as deserving as me. I was so honored and humbled. That was my true win that weekend, gaining the friendships of some passionate, bright young ladies who I am so proud to call my friends.