Miss Missouri Winter Workshop

This summer I’ll be competing in Miss Missouri for the 3rd time and we kicked off round 3 with the Miss MO Class of 2019 at Winter Workshop this weekend!

//// Different segment of Five Things Friday this week because my mind has been on Miss Missouri! Check out this post to see what I did this weekend and the five biggest lessons I learned.

For those not familiar, winter workshop is a one-day event in March where most of the Miss and Outstanding Teen candidates and their local directors (and parents if they so choose), most of the Miss MO Board of Directors, the reigning Miss MO and Miss Missouri’s Outstanding Teen gather to provide a brief overview of items pertinent to pageant week and preparation for the job of Miss Missouri, especially helpful for the rookie candidates. Of the 26 candidates for Miss Missouri, almost half are new (or new to me!) so I’m excited to get to know them over the next three months before Miss Missouri week.

The day started early at 8:30am. We all gathered into the Boone County Electric Cooperative Community Room in Columbia, Mo., to pay for our lunches, Show-Me Princess production shirts and to mingle with old friends. At 9am the program began with introductions of our current titleholders and directors, followed by an in-depth discussion about our paperwork and connecting with the judges through our stories.

*Side Note* The Show-Me Princess Program is the mentoring program of Miss Missouri. Each candidate has at least 1 princess between the ages of 5 and 12 to share the week of Miss Missouri with. For my last three years competing I’ve been very lucky to share my time with Maddie Dwyer, a spunky, kind Girl Scout from the Kansas City area. We are SO excited for another year together and would welcome another princess to join our team! It costs $400 ($450 for a new princess) but I’m willing to offset a portion of the cost to provide any young girl who wants the experience to join me onstage, during the parade and at events during Miss Missouri week.

This day is nothing but information, and for the Type A like me, I love it. I had my Erin Condren planner out taking notes with my favorite pen (Sarah Kasubke, Miss Zona Rosa, told me I had the prettiest handwriting!) and I jotted down everything on my printed handouts/paperwork copies. We were briefed on the Miss America 2.0 changes and given information about salute pages, being a great local titleholder, advocating for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and promoting ourselves and this organization on social media. So much content jam-packed into one incredible day of learning!

Mikaela and I at
Miss Missouri Winter Workshop

This year, the Miss MO Board brought former local titleholders to speak on some of those topics and I found that so insightful! Mikaela Carson was one guest speaker and she was my sister queen my first year at Miss Missouri. She spoke about ways to be an impactful local titleholder and how to be your “hometown Miss America.” That is so important — I’ve often found myself waiting for the moment of becoming Miss Missouri or Miss America to implement programs, action plans or ideas, when the state of Missouri needs that influence and change now. I’m so glad we were able to learn from the experiences of former titleholders like Mikaela and I thank Demi and Pattie, Taylor and Mikaela for joining us.

After lunch, our groups divided into Outstanding Teen candidates and Miss candidates to speak with our respective reigning titleholder — this is always my highlight of orientation or winter workshop every year. Something about hearing Miss Missouri speak about her year, the challenges, the highlights, the “wow I’m Miss Missouri” moments gets me fired up and excited for June to get here.

Katelyn, our current Miss Missouri, is easily my best “pageant friend” and to see her live out her dream of being Miss Missouri has been so fruitful – the wisdom she offered to us candidates was so special and I’ve learned a lot from her reign and the effort she takes into making each candidate feel supported and valued.

Top 5 Takeaways:

• Comparison will steal every ounce of joy. In a world where you hear time and time again “I don’t like your hair,” “you should look like this,” “did you see her talent? it’s so cool,” “you’re too tall and lanky,” “she’s going to win, she’s a shoo-in”… STOP listening, leave the room, do whatever is in your power to control the thoughts, emotions, actions, and results to follow because of what someone else said/did. In the pageant world it’s hard, it’s so hard sometimes. But you sister, are qualified and capable just as you are  and I see all the potential in you.
• The job of Miss Missouri is an obligation to the state of Missouri. You take a year off of school to fulfill the job responsibilities and you represent our state in the highest capacity on the MISS AMERICA STAGE (just got goosebumps, wow!!). You owe it to the state to be your best possible self at Miss Missouri.
• For many people involved with Miss Missouri, it is a volunteer position, meaning no compensation for the hours upon hours spent working with local titleholders (if you’re a local director) or coordinating production, social media, salute pages or logistical areas if you’re involved in another capacity. It’s so crazy to me to look at how successful our program is, how large it has gotten and how much money we’re able to raise for CMNH with a crew of volunteers — I am indebted to the support and generosity of so many people that keep this organization a well-oiled machine, beyond the one week in Mexico, Mo.
• This time last year it was warm enough that I was wearing a cute two-piece purple outfit to this event — and this year it was cold! Please bring spring and summer back!
• Perhaps the most exciting part….it’s the 50TH anniversary of MISS MISSOURI! To join the legacy and the historic sisterhood would be so so special to me. For those who don’t know, my talent selection is inspired by the only Miss Missouri to become Miss America, Debbye Turner Bell, who played it during her marimba piece at Miss America. Before seeing her play, I never thought I could do it. I want so badly to be that inspiration for other young women across our state — the marimba is for YOU, rural Missouri. Rural fine arts education is where I learned how to play and there’s a place for rural girls on the Miss Missouri stage.

Introducing….the Miss Missouri Class of 2019!

It’s the conversation with the reigning titleholder that always gets me a little teary-eyed. I’m humbled by the experience of even competing for Miss Missouri; my little girl self only dreamed of this moment. This job is a 365-day commitment, but you’re representing the thousands of young women that wanted that position too, the thousands that will never get there for situations out of their control, and the ones that were told no and listened – not just your 30ish-person class of Miss MO candidates. I’m so giddy about the thought of representing our state in that capacity and I pray that my perseverance, dedication, and strength continue over my last three months of preparation and that I stay diligently in my own lane.

This Miss Metro/River City/Fleur de Lis/Forest Park team! (Minus my sweet teen, Halie!)

One of my most favorite parts of being a returning local titleholder is mentoring the younger contestants, especially the Outstanding Teens! Everyone who knows me knows that my OT from last year, Lauren Vanlandingham, and I had a very special bond and I want other young women to feel the same bond and support through this organization. Meet Schyler, the CUTEST teen from Centralia who recently won our newest title, Miss Columbia’s Outstanding Teen! Schyler has competed several times and to see her finally win the title that was made for her is so heartwarming. In a world that tells you to quit and to give up after “failure” or after other people doubt you, this organization has taught me to go — and to keep going, even when you feel alone or afraid.

Schyler Angell, Miss Columbia’s Outstanding Teen, and I at Winter Workshop 2019.
Schyler is a member of the Centralia FFA chapter and I spoke to
their chapter last fall about Miss MO and becoming hunger fighters!

SO excited because in one month….it’s MISS MISSOURI ORIENTATION. Y’all, I will never get over the fact that I am competing for Miss Missouri. If you are interested in supporting me financially through the purchase of a salute page, please contact me at holly.enowski@gmail.com or via Facebook.

Let’s do this pals

XOXO

Holly Enowski
Miss Fleur de Lis

3 / Five Things Friday

(1) Takeaway of the Week: Perform a calendar audit. I’m in the middle of this right now (per advice from Rachel Hollis‘ podcast) and it really forces you to look at how you spend your time and energy and to evaluate it. The method she proposes is to make 3 lists:

• Things that were time worthy/that you loved/would do again
• Things that were a waste of time/energy
• FIVE things that you LOVE and want to see more of in 2019 (ex. date nights, long runs, girl dinners, whatever)

She offers other tidbits — like looking at who got you there, putting your vacay in the calendar, etc. — that force you to evaluate what types of things you want to repeat and manifest and grow in 2019. A lot of my calendar is meetings, class, studying and events out of my control, but my free time and what meetings I attend should be a choice. I’m excited to do the calendar audit and thought it was a new process I had never heard of!

(2) Learn from: I mention two podcasts in today’s post, so my advice would be to find a method of learning that best suits you and run with it. I like podcasts because I can listen to them when I’m brushing my teeth, walking to class, going to bed, driving my car, literally whenever. We are so fortunate to live at a time where the answer to any of our questions, the starting point for any of our dreams, the ideas that spark the businesses and the initiatives and the ‘you-name-its’ are available online via our beautiful, spunky friend Google. There’s no excuse for not seeking the information you desire or want, or waiting on some magical fairy to bring it to you when it’s out there.

Peep below: the invisible, aka your learning, the personal development, the positive thinking, the all you-in-control stuff, drives the visible and what goes on the outside. //

(3) I Wish I Knew That…the invisible drives the visible. 

How you speak to yourself matters. How you talk about yourself in your head matters. What you fill your brain, your mind, your life with matters. Especially in preparing for something like Miss Missouri, you can be as polished and perfect and pageant-ready as all get out, but you’re not competing to be a pro-pageant gal forever – you’re competing for the job of Miss Missouri. Helllloooo, the job of Miss MO is not to be a pro-pageant gal forever. That’s why this quote really stuck out to me. The invisible drives the visible.

(4) Miss Missouri: Last weekend I was supposed to help emcee at the Miss Columbia pageant that unfortunately was rescheduled due to Storm Gia that hit Missouri. This is my last week of break from school, so I’ve been playing my marimba as much as I can and beginning my season of preparation for the job I’ve wanted since I was 8. With that being said, the opportunity to sponsor, partner or otherwise financially support me is available and I’d love if you would share it within your networks or to people who might align with me, my brand + what I hope to accomplish across Missouri. Email holly.enowski@gmail.com – I’m excited to work together!

• 

• 

(5) Resource: The Daily by the New York Times is the OG in news podcasts and it is some of the best journalism out there. A particularly insightful and important podcast… The Year in Sound: An Audio Time Capsule of 2018. It basically goes through 2018 using only clips from media coverage, press conferences, speeches, etc. to tell the story. Very revealing into what 2018 was for the United States and abroad.

….

Xo,

Holly

1 / Five Things Friday

Heyoooo, welcome to 2019!

I have a lot I could share about 2018 — good, bad, disappointed, excited, wonderful, anxious, defeated, betrayed, ashamed, dumb, motivated, capable…all the emotions felt within the past 365 days have made me better, stronger, more intentional and comfortable as me, Holly Enowski. I hope 2018 was a year of growth for you and that 2019 provides what you are hoping for, through the good and the bad.

I want this space to be a place where I share lessons/tidbits from the week, resources that have helped me in some way, stories and adventures as Miss Fleur de Lis and as Holly Enowski, and all the “I wish I knew…” pieces of advice – with the hope of posting at least 1x per week the next 51 weeks. Let’s dig in.
…..

(1) Takeaway of the Week:

Your dreams aren’t someone else’s to manage.
Your dreams aren’t someone else’s to manage.
Your dreams are not someone else’s to manage.
Your dreams aren’t someone else’s to manage.

Your dreams aren’t someone else’s to manage. Read that again and again and again. I’m making a 2019 vision board and you bet that will be one of the biggest pieces. From Miss America to landing that killer internship to learning a foreign language or just practicing a life of less judgment, this applies regardless of how outrageous or seemingly small your dream may be.

“God, your partner, your mama, and your best friends — none of them can make you into something (good or bad) without your help” and, in my opinion, your permission.

It’s entirely up to you + your eventual success or failure lies on you, not your coach, not your club advisor, not your professor and certainly not the hundreds of people who don’t believe you’ll achieve it.
….
Like what you’re reading? The inspo + quotes come from the book in #2 below.

(2) Learn From: Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis.

Read it, read it, read it. I read it on the way back from Ohio for Miss Missouri dress shopping (borrowed my mom’s Christmas present copy of the book…thanks mom!)- and I will reread it honestly probably once a month this year once I get my own copy. Rachel has a way of writing in funny stories that stick — it makes you cry, makes you ponder, makes you question, makes you challenge yourself and your beliefs. I know it’s ~all the rage~ right now, but with GOOD reason. The tangible lessons in this book could’ve benefitted me at 16 trying to fit in in high school, me at 18, me now at 21 and every woman of any age.

(3) I Wish I Knew That…formal education is not the only way to go, nor is it always the best, most cost-effective or most effective way to learn. It’s not right, it’s not wrong, but far too often we’re told it’s the only option and it’s NOT.

I just finished my hardest semester yet at the University of Missouri. Spanish 2 kicked my butt — and I still can’t speak the language. My strategic communication classes got me excited about social media and marketing, but also unlocked a new questioning of my creativity and comparison in the cutthroat world of the Missouri School of Journalism. I took a course on agriculture trade and policy (helllloooo, my heart!) and it ranks #1 on the worst class list. Moral of the story: take the class that excites you, quit the class that doesn’t and worry less about the GPA.

There is power in education —I wish I knew before now that education extends far beyond the borders of a traditional classroom, beyond the mandated graduation requirements of Geological Sciences 1100 or College Algebra (which I failed…2x…after taking calculus in high school), beyond the expected courses that fall within your program or major. My recommendations to pursue education outside of the classroom:

• Numero Uno: NEWS PODCASTS. My favorite is The Daily by the New York Times. The best thing about podcasts is that you can drive and listen to them, you can walk, run or exercise while listening to them…your life doesn’t have to stop to get high-quality content. Their recent episode (an Audio Time Capsule of 2018) is journalism GOLD and I highly encourage a listen.
• MENTORSHIP. Y’all, I could sit on a soapbox and preach about the power of mentorship all day. If you’re a student at MU, I highly recommend applying for the Deaton Scholars Program, a student peer-mentorship initiative that I co-founded with my mentor Maria and our mentors Dr. Brady and Anne Deaton. You learn from people who are not like you and who don’t come from the same background/hometown/religion/thoughts/occupation as you — that’s a pretty powerful thing.
• Online courses + free programs or conferences. I’ll be featuring some that I’ve loved over the next few weeks, but self-education through courses like these can make all the difference between a job and no job or exploring your passions versus doing the same old – same old.

(4) Miss Missouri: I hope to use this space to share the ~realities~ of being a student trying to figure out her place in the world, confronting real-life issues + chasing dreams that aren’t always supported by her peers/friends/life/you name it. I want to be Miss America someday — Today I unveiled a new ‘lil series on my social media (“Fleur de Lis Fridays”) and one of the questions someone asked was what got me started in Miss Missouri and with that question, I’d like to reflect on one of my favorite moments of 2018.

Winning preliminary talent at Miss Missouri. Y’all. I have wanted to compete for Miss Missouri for as long as I can remember and idolized the women before me that won the coveted award (still do….a lot). Like I said earlier, your dreams aren’t someone else’s to manage — and I never believed this dream was possible until it happened. But why didn’t I?

The only Miss Missouri to win Miss America was my gal Debbye Turner (I say my gal like we’re bffs…if only!) who played Flight of the Bumblebee on marimba. I’ve watched her performance so many times and saw that if a Mizzou-going Missouri agriculture girl like me could achieve my dream, so could I. We have to unlock the doors so others can follow – Debbye did that for me and many others, I want to do that for each and every girl across the state of Missouri. Who says you can’t be Miss Missouri? Who says you don’t have a talent? Not me, sister.

(5) News, Fake News, What IS 
News? It seems like a new story breaks every day — is the government shutdown? what does that even mean? who shut whom? One answer: theSkimm. Add theSkimm to your morning email reads to be smarter about what’s going on in the world (seriously!). They do the heavy work for you and send you a short email every weekday morning. I’ll be sharing a few other news email newsletters next week, but this one is a m u s t and easy to read.

Welp, five things for this Friday evening. The beginning of a new year has us all feeling some kinda way + it has me ready to grow and develop beyond my own limitations. I’m ready to share that with ya and bring you along — realness, failures and the whole sha-bang.

Hope this blog brings you inspiration, thoughts to ponder or just a new perspective or resource you hadn’t considered. As always, let me know what you liked, didn’t like + please share any of your resource recommendations with me!

Try — Miss Missouri 2017

In thirty days, a new Miss Missouri will be crowned. One woman will embark on a year of service representing the Show-Me State and advance to Miss America, while 29 others will go back to their communities to fulfill their role as a local titleholder.

I get emotional when I think about the fact that a dream I had at 8 years old is one month away from becoming true. I still scream a little inside and get goosebumps thinking about it…it’s so surreal to me. It probably won’t sink in until I step on the Miss Missouri stage for the first time in just under a month. Phew, it’s been a ride.

For those of you know may not know, pageants have been a winding road for me. I competed for Miss Miller County Teen and won on my first try, as an awkward and shy incoming high school freshman. I did it for fun and experienced a lot of growth with the program, but my luck after that wasn’t so hot. I tried a variety of talents, borrowed evening gowns, and tried to become the girl I thought the pageant world wanted. I competed for a few Miss Missouri Outstanding Teen local preliminaries over the course of a few years (the ‘lil sister program’ of sorts to Miss MO and Miss America) and none were successful. Competing for Miss Missouri, and eventually Miss America, was always in the back of my mind but I often tried to ignore it. Looking back, I think two things have kept me from pursuing my dream of Miss Missouri and/or Miss Missouri’s Outstanding Teen:

(1) fear of failure

(2) fear of what people would say or think about me

Going to Kenya was an opportunity to escape the world I had become sheltered by and to find myself. I didn’t want to be around the negativity of high school anymore. It is in Kenya, 8,533+ miles away, that the Miss Missouri dream became increasingly prevalent in my mind. Sitting on the patio of my room overlooking Lake Victoria for a week straight I began to realize that I — my fears, my doubts, my insecurities — was holding myself back. Largely stemming from a heartbreaking (but so so so so so so good for me) loss for the state FFA officer candidacy, I did not want to put myself out there and spend all my time preparing for something that was likely never going to happen. After a few heart-to-hearts with myself and God, I realized this dream wasn’t going away for a reason and that I should pursue it, win or lose, with or without support.

I decided to try preparing for a local preliminary for Miss Missouri while abroad for the summer. Local preliminaries start in August and there are 20+ contests awarding 30 titles across the state until mid-February. I color-coded the dates of the different preliminaries in my planner and began working on my paperwork. I even watched Miss Missouri finals night from my bed at 3AM June 18th last year, taking notes and rooting for the girls that I knew or had heard of before. Every few weeks I would do mock Skype interviews with two pageant friends and conduct more research on a “platform” issue that I would use if I won a local title. Rico and I would attempt to work out in this hot, old gym warehouse space on the icipe campus. From attending the fitness class offered to cycling on a stationary bike without any resistance, to walking around campus and using the textbooks I brought as makeshift weights, I tried. Yes, I was new to the whole gym AND pageant prep process and I didn’t really know what I was doing — but I tried and that’s what mattered.

I realized that my talent would need more work, given a summer without playing, so I enrolled in xylophone lessons for the fall semester at Mizzou. My teacher Anna and I listened to different songs and finally decided on my comfort zone — Hungarian Dance No. 5. I played this song as my senior year solo contest piece and remembered most of the notes. Miss Missouri requires a song of under 90 seconds and for those of you who are familiar with this song, it did not fit in that time frame. Anna and I cut out measures we didn’t like, made a background track, and she helped me on the technicalities of playing that I wasn’t familiar with. Hours of playing the xylophone in my dorm room ensued and finally I felt prepared to compete in the next local preliminary, Miss Springfield. At the end of the competition, I came home the winner of a scholarship with the Overall Talent Award. As I grew busier and busier with schoolwork and time ticked on, I contemplated not competing and waiting until I was older to begin again.

But, the nudge persisted..just try it, just try it. one more time.

Christina Stratton, our current Miss Missouri’s Outstanding Teen, posted on Facebook encouraging girls to compete for Miss Kansas City’s Outstanding Teen and Miss Kansas City at a pageant later in the month. She included her story of what led her to Miss KC last year where she was named one of three OT titleholders and said something along the lines of “if it’s always on your mind, you owe it to yourself to give it a shot.”

On my desk at school, in the middle of a 23 credit hour semester, I stared at my “quote block” and read:

Every accomplishment begins with a decision to try. 

After years of self-doubt, I owed it to myself to not quit now. If I wanted to one day become Miss Missouri or Miss America, I had to first try. I sought out help and prepared the best I could for Miss Kansas City and had the most fun out of any pageant that weekend. Why?

Because I wasn’t focused on the outcome.

I had no expectations for how the weekend would end up and knew that if I didn’t win, it wasn’t meant to be right now. I remember praying backstage that I would remain calm in what’s to come and that my hands would hit the right notes so that maybe a young audience member could fall in love with the xylophone like I did so many years ago. I made fast friends with other pageant contestants (one of whom happens to be my sorority sister!), fell in love with a cute teen contestant and met some music professors from the University of Central Missouri. I had one of the best interviews of my life during the competition….so much so that I told a story of my dad throwing bull private parts at me to “toughen me up” when I was younger. Maybe I should stick to stories about my cats 🙂

Little did I know, my life would change that night. 

I was in shock when my name was called as Miss Crown City, a title that was added the morning of the pageant. I get goosebumps thinking about the moment. The sweet teen contestant that I adored throughout the day, Kylie, was now my sister queen. The two former UCM professors…they were the parents of my now director Kari and members of the Miss KCSO Board.

I remember starting to cry well after my crowning moment and thinking what is wrong with me, but hearing a voice that said “this is your time, you did it”. It was a whirlwind of a night and one of the only things I remember is turning to one of the board members and asking “when is Miss Missouri orientation and when is Miss Missouri?”. I did not think I was going to win, but was so content and at peace with the process that it truly didn’t matter the outcome. This is a stark contrast from Missouri FFA State Officer interviews and the mindset that I had with preparations for that experience.

I firmly believe that everything happens for a reason, but God sure surprised me with this one. You think you have a plan figured out of what your life is to be but I’ve received curveball after curveball that has led to some of the most phenomenal moments of my life (looking at you, Kenya). I could not have predicted the amount of growth, strength and confidence that would come from such a short amount of time, from my crowning less than 3 months ago.

#LifeAsMissCrownCity can be difficult. There are times when I have wanted to quit. There are times when I look at myself and still battle with thinking that I am not “x, y, and z” enough. There are times when I’m driving two and a half hours to or from an appearance or prep weekend and feel defeated, exhausted or a combination of both. There are times when I’ve messed up on my talent, had a bowl of ice cream, or forgot to post about my week on social media. That’s okay. If I undergo struggles for one younger girl watching me to believe in herself and feel like she can compete for Miss America, then I am doing my job.

What I’ve come to realize in three months is that the Miss America Organization isn’t looking for a “cookie cutter” girl, someone who is trying to be this perfect person and never shows her flaws or real life mishaps.

 

Take our Miss America, Savvy Shields, for example. She posted a selfie once highlighting the lipstick on her teeth. Relatable, fun, transparent, warm. My 8 year old self was scared of ever actually pursuing my dream of Miss America because I didn’t feel that I fit the “mold” or expectation of what a Miss Missouri or Miss America is.

News flash: there is no mold.

The same Holly Enowski that existed three months ago is the Holly Enowski writing this post preparing for what is to come in 30 days in Mexico, Missouri. “Miss Crown City” still lives in Eldon, Mo., plays with her six cats on a regular basis, jams to Sam Hunt on the radio, takes 25 minutes to decide what to eat, makes a bucket list and fantasizes over the day when she will finally return to Kenya. My platform “From Plate to Politics: Feeding Missouri’s Future” stems directly from what I learned growing up on a farm, through the National FFA Organization, while interning in Kenya and through the World Food Prize. Now, it has a fun title and I have a platform of which to speak about these issues across the state. Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals was important in my life before I joined MAO — as a triplet, I was prematurely in a CMN hospital and wouldn’t be here without them.

There is no other organization that celebrates women in the areas of service, style, scholarship, and success as well as Miss America. It is through this organization that I have become my best self and recognized the value in just being me. I have become more and more of myself through this experience and wow, has it been transformational y’all.

In thirty days, my life will undoubtably change. I will walk away with the title of Miss Missouri and a platform to spread “From Plate to Politics” on a state and national scale, or I will walk away with 8 more months as Miss Crown City and with the best support system in all the state.

I owe it to every little girl who has wanted to try for something but didn’t feel “x enough” to compete as 100%, authentically me — as the agriculture lovin’, xylophone hittin’, Children’s Miracle Network supportin’ triplet who happens to snort when I laugh.

Here’s to thirty days of pushing forward and trying…breaking molds and spreading From Plate to Politics: Feeding Missouri’s Future…and sharing both the challenges and the highlights of my journey. The support has been absolutely humbling and I hope to represent rural Missouri well next month.

This one is for you — every accomplishment begins with a decision to try. just try.

xoxo,

Holly
Miss Crown City

16 Things in 2016

 

26 days into the new year (hello, 2017), I’ve decided to reflect on my year with 16 standout moments from 2016. These are in chronological order (but not necessarily in order of importance), but here’s a snapshot into last 365 days and what I hope to remember most from 2016.

1. Missouri Youth Institute
   For those who know me, you know that the Missouri Youth Institute and the World Food Prize have a very special place in my heart and my priorities. Seeing our statewide institute come into being and be a success was so satisfying. Following those students to the World Food Prize (#12 on this list!) was awesome. I found it very fulfilling to be a part of a program that will hopefully be long lasting. (Side note: if you’re in high school, apply!! link to website
2. NBA Game for 3 Years!
   To surprise Joey for our three year (HOLY COW people) anniversary, we went to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to see Kevin Durant and OKC Thunder and it was so cool and so worthwhile. We had a lot of fun and figured out kind of “how to adult” by driving in a big city and going to a game alone. It was scary, but hey, we won the game!
3. FFA State Convention
   My last FFA State Convention was bittersweet, for sure. I almost wasn’t going to be able to make it because of DECA Internationals (#4) but Coach Campbell fought for me (find you a Coach Campbell, you’ll need it). My last state convention was BY FAR my best and I placed first overall in sales, won my proficiency award in Agriculture Education and competed for Star in Agriscience, three goals I established freshman year of high school. It was exciting and fulfilling and everything better than I dreamed and made the “rough times” of FFA worth it.
4. DECA Internationals
   DECA Internationals!!! Yay, so this was one of my favorite moments of senior year. Easily. I placed second at state for the second year in a row, to the same girl as the year before — but it pushed me to prepare harder for  internationals than I ever have. I placed in the top 20 at internationals in my role play scenario and then ended up placing top 10 and 3rd among the US students. Coach Campbell deserves all the recognition and it was such a privilege to finish his (and my) time in DECA with an international placement we had been working for since sophomore year. I miss DECA!!
5. Prom
   With Joey being away at MSU, some parts of 2016 were hard. Prom, however, was a weekend I got to spent with Joey that made up for all the lost time. I always love it when I can go weeks without seeing Joey and then come back and everything is the exact same as if I never left. I found a beautiful dress and got my hair and makeup done and it was such a fun night.
   
6. Senior Awards Concert
   Ok, so I really miss band (shocker). Looking back some of my best moments from Eldon are from my time in band and the senior awards concert I was a mix of emotions. Joey secretly got me flowers and Mrs. Hanks presented them to me, we were able to recognize Deb Lef for being awesome (and got to showcase Anna and I’s cool pottery skills hahaha). Being drum major was one of my favorite experiences and the senior awards concert was the icing on a cake to a really great year with some of my best friends.
7. Graduating & Graduation Party
   Everyone loves graduation!!! The triplets survived and are all doing their own thing now (insert sad face because my brothers are away). Our grad party was really fun and it was exciting to see all of our friends and family come together. And…Aunt Theresa came!
8. SQUAD
   Obviously 2016 would not have been the same if it weren’t for my “squad” (Courtney, Justyn and Ben). Thank you for the countless homecoming rants, Harry Potter movie nights, scholarship jam sessions, Subway dinners, staying at school with me until like 6pm (@justyn) and being the best support system I could ask for. Y’all rock.
9. Kayaking
   I got to take up a new hobby this year and that was kayaking! I’m so sad that I didn’t try this sooner but Cassie and I went once and I was hooked. I even went kayaking in Kenya. #dedication
10. Kenya and Uganda
    This goes without saying, but my summer in Kenya and Uganda tops the list. You find out who your friends are when you’re gone and cannot communicate at convenient times, you find out how strong your relationship is when you can’t see each other for two months and Skype/phone calls don’t work, you find what you love about your community and your family and what you don’t like about America when you’re away. But more importantly, you find yourself and you find what matters. Travel people, do it.
11. KAO
    I joined a sorority!! My lovely women of Kappa Alpha Theta at the University of Missouri truly are supportive sistas and I couldn’t take on MU without them.
12. World Food Prize
    See #10 but attending the World Food Prize to tell and share my stories from Kenya and to (finally!) wear my African dress in public was a blast. I met so many students who are interested in food insecurity, shared the stories of my kiddos and re-dedicated my life to public service.
13. Miss Missouri — winning talent at Miss Springfield
    I recently started competing in Miss Missouri local preliminaries and received two non-finalist Interview Awards. I was most excited to win overall talent at the pageant I have wanted to win since the very beginning, Miss Springfield. Getting to play xylophone and wear beautiful dresses sounds like a dream to me. 🙂
14. Costa Rica & Flying a drone
    Costa Rica!! I continued my international travels over winter break and rounded out 2016 in the Children’s Eternal Rainforest with my friends, a tarantula and lots of bugs. It was beautiful and I could go on and on about how incredible Costa Rica is/was.
15. Leaving home and….
    Leaving home for college and the opportunities that I’ve gotten at Mizzou thus far made 2016 so different from any year before. From the Deaton Scholars Program to Tiger Pantry executive board, to KAO, CCH and IAAS, I’m crazy busy and it makes me happy.
16. Coming home…Alumni Jazz Game and Homecoming
    You never know what you have until it’s gone and Eldon, Missouri is a wonderful little town, y’all. I’m happy of where I come from and the people who make up my hometown. Coming home and reconnecting with my friends like we never left will always be my favorite thing. (And home = Joey so I can’t complain) 🙂