What I've Learned on My Journey

It's not just the crown. It's about what I have learned on my journey to the crown and how I can apply that to my everyday life.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

My Pageant Decision

I've picked a pageant! After a long and carefully thought out decision, I am going to compete in the Miss Black America Pageant System!

August 7th, 2010, I will be competing in the Miss Black Ohio Pageant of Achievement. The winner will receive a scholarship and will go on to compete at Miss Black America.

There is an entry fee to compete in this pageant. If you would like to donate to my pageant fund please do so by clicking the link on the side of my blog.

I look forward to blogging about my new pageant journey!

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

What Pageant Should I Do Next?

Sorry for the long hiatus from blogging, but life after aging out of the Miss America System has left me scrabbling for a new pageant system to call my own (and also something to put in this blog). People have told me about many different pageants - Cinderella Pageant, Beauties of America, International, Black International, America's Perfect Miss.



Please take my poll about which pageant I should do. I truly need help deciding.

Monday, August 10, 2009

MBOUSA Contestant Itinerary

Miss Black Ohio USA Scholarship Pageant Weekend
Contestant Tentative Itinerary


Thursday, August 13, 2009

8:00 a.m. Registration in lobby of Ramada Columbus North and eat breakfast (Group A contestants should be in interview attire and Group B contestants should wear a nice outfit with sash).
9:00 a.m. Group A Contestant Personal Interviews.
9:00 a.m. Group B will participate in individual consultations with hair and makeup.
10:30 a.m. Group B Talent Competition. Individual feedback from judges immediately following each delegate’s talent presentation.
10:30 a.m. Group A in “Beautiful” discussion group with Chandra White-Cummings (Contestants are to wear casual wear with sash).
12:00 noon Lunch
1:00 p.m. Opening Number Rehearsal at Ramada Columbus North (Contestants should wear comfortable clothing for rehearsal and sash).
5:00 p.m. All contestants in rooms to prepare for Red Carpet Welcome Reception.
6:00 p.m. Cherelle Hines, Miss Black Ohio USA Talented Teen to arrive at Ramada Columbus North.
7:00 p.m. Red Carpet Arrival Reception at host hotel. This event will be filmed for DVD (Contestants should wear something nice and trendy).
9:00 p.m. Red Carpet Reception concludes.
9:30 p.m. Contestant Pajama Party & Gift Exchange (Contestants are to wear tasteful pajamas and no makeup).
11:00 p.m. All contestants in rooms for bed.

Friday, August 14, 2009

8:00 a.m. Contestants eating breakfast (Group B contestants should be in interview attire and Group A contestants should wear a nice outfit with sash).
9:00 a.m. Group B Contestant Personal Interviews.
9:00 a.m. Group A will participate in individual consultations with hair and makeup.
10:30 a.m. Group A Talent Competition. Individual feedback from judges immediately following each delegate’s talent presentation.
10:30 a.m. Group B in “Beautiful” discussion group with Chandra White-Cummings (Contestants are to wear casual wear with sash).
12:00 noon Lunch
1:00 p.m. Michael Jackson Tribute Rehearsal at Ramada Columbus North (Contestants should wear comfortable clothing for rehearsal and sash).
5:00 p.m. Whitney Gaskins, Miss Black Ohio USA to arrive at Ramada Columbus North.
5:00 p.m. All contestants in rooms to prepare for Sponsor & Supporter Appreciation Dinner (Contestants should wear something nice and trendy to event and bring two outfits for fashion show – one fun fashion and the other semi-formal or formal).
7:00 p.m. Contestants load transportation to be taken to Fort Rapids.
8:00 p.m. Sponsor & Supporter Appreciation Dinner at Fort Rapids. This event will be filmed for DVD.
9:00 p.m. Live entertainment from the contestants begins.
10:00 p.m. Brittany Browne, MBOUSA Ambassador to arrive at Fort Rapids.
11:00 p.m. Contestants load the transportation to be taken back to the hotel.
12:00 midnight Sponsor & Supporter Appreciation Dinner concludes.
12:00 midnight All contestants in rooms for bed.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

7:00 a.m. Contestants eating breakfast (contestants should wear comfortable outfit with sash).
7:30 a.m. Opening Number and Michael Jackson Tribute rehearsal at the Ramada Columbus North.
11:00 a.m. Rehearsal concludes and ladies get ready for rehearsal at CPAC (Everyone – wear nice jeans and you will be given a t-shirt upon arrival at zoo. Contestants and reigning queens - Bring your sashes with you).
11:30 a.m. Contestants are to load transportation to the CPAC. Lunch will be provided on the way to the theater.
12:00 noon Rehearsals commence at Columbus Performing Arts Center. Block the Opening Number and Michael Jackson tribute. Go through the on stage walking patterns.
5:15 p.m. Contestants, hosts and staff will load transportation to be taken to the HSK Caroline Pryce Walker Memorial Event at Columbus Zoo. Admission, T-shirt, food and beverages are included.
5:50 p.m. MBOUSA queens, contestants and staff to arrive at Columbus Zoo.
6:00 p.m. Contestants do various tasks around the event (dispose of trash, hand out information, help to restock food and beverages etc.).
10:00 p.m. Contestants load transportation to be taken back to Ramada Columbus North.
10:30 a.m. All contestants in their rooms for bed.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

8:00 a.m. Contestants eating breakfast (contestants should wear comfortable outfit with sash).
9:00 a.m. Contestants load transportation to Columbus Performing Arts Center (must bring all competition attire).
10:00 a.m. Rehearsals commence with the entire staff and Deron Bell and the Jazz for You Band. Block individual talent pieces, rehearse opening, MJ Tribute and block finale.
12:30 p.m. Rehearsals conclude and everyone backstage.
1:50 p.m. All contestants on point for show and judges taken to their places.
2:00 p.m. 2010 Ohio State Finals begins.
5:30 p.m. Pageant and on-stage pictures concludes.
5:45 p.m. The new Miss Black Ohio USA, Miss Black Ohio USA Talented Teen and parent of teen winner to meet in Judge’s Suite to sign titleholder agreements.
6:30 p.m. Contestants load transportation to be taken back to Ramada Columbus North.
7:00 p.m. Coronation Reception begins at the Ramada Columbus North (contestants should wear their evening gowns and sashes. New queens are to wear crowns along with Cherelle and Whitney).
9:00 p.m. Coronation Reception concludes and contestants are dismissed to go home.

Miss Black Ohio Contestant Itinerary

I leave this week for Miss Black Ohio USA! It's hard to believe that a year has gone by since the last time I competed in this pageant. For preliminary days, we, the contestants have been split up into 2 groups:

PRELIM GROUP A
Amy Allen
Christina Hollinger
Ashley Coleman
Aunjanna' Million
Monique Nichols
Arianna Palmer
PRELIM GROUP B
Charisse Johnson
Porsche' Lumpkins
Ashley Miller
Twana Rogers
Keyaira Smith
Elizabeth Williamson
Thursday Group A competes in Interview, and Group B competes in Talent. Friday Group A competes in Talent, and Group B competes in Interview.
During the finals grouping will be different:
FINALS GROUP A
Amy Allen
Chistina Hollinger
Charisse Johnson
Porsche' Lumpkins
FINALS GROUP B
Ashley Coleman
Aunjanna' Million
Monique Nichols
Arianna Palmer
FINALS GROUP C
Ashley Miller
Twana Rogers
Keyaira Smith
Elizabeth Williamson
Sunday, August 16th at 2pm all contestants will be competing in the following categories :
Introduction 10%
On-stage Question 15%
Talent 30%
Evening Gown 10%
Activewear 10%
Preliminary Interview is worth 25% of the total score. Preliminary Talent is not scored.
At the Ohio State Finals there will be 7 judges. The highest and lowest scores will be dropped, and the remaining 5 scores will be averaged and the percentage taken from it.
A ballot with the names of the top 5 Miss and 4 Teens names will be given to the 7 Judges, 1 Judge’s Chair and 5 MBOUSA Board Members. These 13 persons will give each lady 1st to 5th place and the breakdown of the point value is as follows:
1st place – 20 points
2nd place – 10 points
3rd place – 5 points
4th place – 3 points
5th place – 1 point
The contestant with the most points wins!

Saturday, July 04, 2009

Contestant Good Luck Lines

Wish me good luck in the Miss Black Ohio USA 2010 Scholarship Pageant.

The Good Luck Wishes are $10 each and appear in the program book. Each line is 50 characters including spaces. $3 of each line goes to help with my pageant fees.

Let me know if you'd like to "officially" wish me luck!

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Miss Black Ohio USA 2010

I won the title of Miss Black Southern Ohio in April (click here for pictures) and will be competing for the title of Miss Black Ohio USA August 13th-16th in Columbus.

The State Finals will be held August 16th at 2pm at the Columbus Performing Arts Center in the Shedd Theater.

Each contestant is required to sell 4 tickets and a full page ad by July 17th, 2009. Cost of the tickets are $25 each. If you would like to come and support me, please let me know and purchase the ticket(s) in advance.

Also, if you would like to support me and the pageant by placing an ad in the program book, I'd greatly appreciate it.


The program is 8.5” x 11”. All advertisements can be submitted in digital format or can be designed at no cost to the advertiser. Advertisements will be done in gray scale.

Full page advertisement ~ $150
Half page advertisement ~ $85
Quarter page advertisement ~ $50
Business Card ~ $30

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Miss Black Ohio USA Preliminary

This Sunday, I am competing in a preliminary to Miss Black Ohio USA. There will be 3 titles given away: Miss Black Central Ohio USA, Miss Black Northeast Ohio USA, and Miss Black Southern Ohio USA.It is taking place at 1pm at:

Ramada Columbus North Hotel
6767 Schrock Hill Ct.
Columbus, OH

I will be competing in private interview, talent, and evening gown. For talent, I will be singing "It's Not A Secret Anymore" by Linda Eder. I am very excited to perform this piece.

I know I said I was going to compete in Miss Ohio International, but I could not get a sponsor. Each preliminary title holder will receive free entry into the Miss Black Ohio USA pageant in August.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Just Checking In

I am still getting ready for Miss Ohio International. I've been working on my paperwork and sending out sponsorship forms.

Last week, I bought my fitness wear top and am very excited to wear it.

On Valentine's Day, I saw He's Just Not That Into You with Megan Wombacker. That's about it. Nothing new has happened to me, but I said I would blog more. Until next time.