A special homecoming for Miss International

23/09/2017

http://www.missnews.com.br/noticias/a-special-homecoming-for-miss-international/

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Zack Hale zack.hale@tdn.com 7 hrs ago 0


Kelsey Craft returned to R.A.Long to share with students about her journey from being a Lumberjack to becoming Miss International.


Bill Wagner, The Daily News


R.A. Long High School graduate Kelsey Craft was back in town last week wearing an award-winning smile and a shiny new piece of headwear.


Craft, who graduated in 2009, was crowned Miss International in August after becoming Miss Florida International in May of this year. The Tokyo-based international beauty pageant dates back to 1960 and is among the top ranked pageants in the world.


Craft recently completed a master’s program at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Myers, Fla., where she studied to become a physician assistant. The three-sport varsity athlete — who played basketball, tennis and swam for R.A. Long — also earned an undergraduate degree in exercise science at the University of Idaho.


The Daily News recently sat down with Craft to discuss the community service component of her title and how it felt to return to Longview after spending eight years away.


The interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.


TDN: How did you become involved with the Miss International pageant?


KC: When I moved to Florida, I wanted to get involved in the community outside of my program and meet people outside of the classmates that I would be sitting with Monday through Friday.


I had a friend from Idaho contact me and say they knew the director of the Miss Florida International pageant system, and when I looked it up I found out that the pageant system was community service-based. I ended up calling her and saying that I’d like to give back. I wanted to get involved in the community and she said that thought it would be a great fit for me.


TDN: Have you learned anything about yourself since you started competing in pageants?


KC: I think it’s more about the things that I’ve learned about other cultures and the needs of other communities. Now that I have a title as a physician assistant and health care provider, I go into communities where some people don’t know what blood pressure is or don’t have the means to get their blood sugar checked.


I think that’s why the community service I do is really important — because it’s that preventative piece of health care. It’s more about what I can do on a wider scale than versus what I can do just in my career.


TDN: Why did you decide to go into health care?


KC: I always knew I was going to go into health care because my mom works at St. John’s. She’s been a phlebotomist there since I was little. She’s a single mom and we couldn’t really afford daycare, so she would just bring my brother and me to the hospital and we’d hang out in the staff lounge. So I kind of grew up in that environment of always being around the hospital and seeing patients.


When I was heading into college, I always knew I was going to take a health care route, I just didn’t know exactly what that was going to look like.


TDN: Does it feel strange at all to be back here in this capacity?


KC: Since I left for Florida, I’ve only been able to come back once. It’s interesting being back here in this capacity because you’re always curious about how everybody’s doing, the people who have influenced you and all of the changes that have happened. It’s been eight years, so not all of the people who were teaching or coaching are still here. It’s kind of nostalgic to walk around here and see signs for Tolo.


TDN: When you see students in high school today, what are some of the biggest challenges you think they face?


KC: I think the aspect of social media is much more influential now than it was when I went through high school. When I went through high school, I didn’t have a cellphone until after I graduated, so the ways people are communicating now have completely shifted and the way that students value their friendships or their confidence or their worth is much more influenced by likes and followers and those types of things. It’s more about the story than the actual experience.


People talk about bullying and I never necessarily went through that, but a lot of students and teachers will ask me to speak on that.


TDN: Do you have any tips or advice for students going through a hard time these days?


KC: I was actually just telling some of the girls at R.A. Long that everybody has their own story or thing that they’re going through. So I mainly just tell people to be patient with one another and remember that lots of people can be going through things that you don’t always see on the outside. My main message is to be kind to one another.


TDN: We’ve previously written about Blue Zones urban renewal projects that are designed to increase walkability here in Cowlitz County. As Miss International, what will your involvement with that group look like?


KC: They’re trying to find opportunities for me to do some visits down in Portland and Kalama because those are already Blue Zones areas. And when I return to Florida, I’ll be working with Tony Buettner, one of the group’s keynote speakers. They’re getting me set up with opportunities to speak to colleges representing Blue Zones in different communities around the U.S.


TDN: Looking at the Longview-Kelso area, what kind of impact do you think the successful implementation of a Blue Zones-type project here could have?


KC: I lived in Idaho and then lived in Florida, and I do see that a lot of folks are less mobile here. So I think that people focusing on walkability and increasing people’s movement would be very beneficial for an area like this.


It could also potentially cut down the rate of smoking because Blue Zones projects have been shown to have that effect in the areas they come to. We also have a lot of fast food chains and when Blue Zones comes into an area, they increase the awareness of healthier options.


We could utilize our lake much more than we do. It’s an amazing asset that Longview has that many areas don’t.


TDN: What’s next for you?


KC: Getting a job as a physician assistant and specializing in dermatology. I’m thinking to myself: “Wow, I will no longer be a professional student.” I had become so good at it!


http://tdn.com/news/local/a-special-homecoming-for-miss-international/article_fd9a12f5-0dba-59e4-a0a6-eacf61c6bebb.html


 

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