I try to read Madison’s blog each time it is updated, and was so busy at the beginning of the month I forgot to check it out until this week. For a 16 year young lady, she is very blessed and sometimes I think I learn from her. I certainly feel proud to call her my friend. Read it for yourself… Madison’s blog
Wanted to share with you Heather Sumlin’s Mental Management Newsletter Message. I think it is very informative about why competing can be a good experience for young ladies. I think anyone competing in pageants should sign up for her newsletter. Link to her website is below.
"Sunday I had the opportunity to attend the Homecoming for Miss Texas America, Ashley Melnick. Ashley is a client of Mental Management and is near and dear to the hearts of everyone here at Mental Management Systems. So I was excited to take my 5 year old daughter, Ashley, to this event hoping my little one would learn something. I know my daughter very well and she has no fear, she is easily excited, some would call her hyper and has difficulty being still for any length of time. So I’m not sure what I was thinking taking her to an event where there are mainly speeches and little entertainment. She thought we were going to a pageant and she kept asking me when they were going to stop talking and start "the pageant". So I had my hands full.
Something magical happened about half way through the ceremony when Cristie Kibler, Miss Arlington, got up to sing. She was funny in her introduction, she was connected to the message of her song and my daughter listened. Rachel Callicutt, Miss Teen Fort Worth, Ashley Melnick’s sister titleholder this year, got up to speak and even though she was speaking to an audience that could be perceived as intimidating, she spoke with poise and comfortableness, she was honest and open. Jordan Johannsen, Miss Irving who was 1st RU to Miss Texas and Ashley Melnick’s best buddy got up to talk. She was funny, confident, secure, comfortable and she held the attention of my 5 year old which is not an easy task! Then Miss Texas herself got up to address the audience and share her thoughts and she held the attention of the room, she was radiant, confident, passionate, emotional yet grounded, light hearted and professional.
As I watched these young ladies share their thoughts after hearing directors and other adult guests speak before them, I realized what the reason to compete truly should be. All of the speakers were good and did well but the titleholders had something special; connection, passion, conviction and ease with their speaking that can only come from public speaking experience. After the speeches were over my 5 year old rebel hugged every titleholder she could find in that room. Some she knew – some she didn’t know. Something about these girls made my daughter want to reach out to them and be like them. That is why you compete – to touch others and open yourself up to changing you!
The true reason to compete has more to do with what you GAIN inside than what you GET outside. The prize package you win will only serve you for 1 year, the communication skills you gain will serve you forever! I have seen the inner growth that happens when a contestant decides it’s not about winning anything – it’s about learning everything! My Father says "Pageantry is by far the best preparation for a successful career, there is nothing else like it that prepares you for the future." The skills you are able to gain are valuable no matter what you choose to pursue in the future.
Right now contestants across the country are trying to decide which pageants to enter, maybe it’s local pageants in one system or trying to decide which system to chose. As you think about which competitions to enter this year, don’t just choose the ones you think you can win. Choose the ones you want to win with no reservation or hesitation. Learn something from the experience, win or lose! You cannot win if you do not enter. Choose to learn something at each competition. Choose to focus on the growth that comes from the attempt to go for what you really want. Choose to focus BEYOND the crown because standing within your limited comfort zone WILL LIMIT your success! Deciding to jump OUTSIDE your comfort zone and strive for something remarkable may propel you to become the person you are meant to be."
Heather Sumlin