Special visitor: Miss Indiana talks with girls at Girls Inc.

26/07/2017

http://www.missnews.com.br/noticias/special-visitor-miss-indiana-talks-with-girls-at-girls-inc/

419    0

By Aaron Piper - July 26 2:07am


Miss Indiana 2017 faced some pretty tough challenges en route to winning that crown in June, but it’s nothing like those her own mother now faces in her battle with brain tumor.


Haley Begay of Pittsboro talked about both during a recent visit to Girls Inc. of Jackson County, and then fielded some tough questions from the audience.


“What’s your favorite letter?” asked one.


Begay answered the questions (“H” and alpacas respectively) along with others from the girls after sharing the story of how she became Miss Indiana and the challenges she had to overcome to do so.


“When I was young, I was overweight and this affected my confidence,” Begay said.


“My mom entered me in a beauty pageant and I received so much confidence when I took the stage.”


Begay said she was thrilled to be selected as Miss Indiana on June 17, but the celebration was short lived.


“About two weeks after I was crowned my mom was diagnosed with a brain tumor,” she said.


Begay said she struggled with the decision to even accept the crown, wanting to be with her mother.


Her mother, however, insisted she had to take on the role of Miss Indiana.


“She actually wanted me to go to my appearances the day of the surgery to remove the tumor,” said Begay, “But I said no and was there for her surgery.”


Begay’s mother made it through surgery safely and the family is now waiting for the next step.


“Hopefully if it’s benign, it’s all done and over, but if it turns out the tumor was malignant then she’ll have to start chemo,” Begay said.


She said her mother was a major influence on her and in no small part why she ultimately arrived at becoming Miss Indiana.


“Growing up my mother was my closest friend,” Begay said.


Another contributing factor, Begay said was her willingness to be honest about who she is.


She said she felt this feeling of authenticity was not wasted on the judges.


“If I have any advice to give to new contestants it would be to be authentically you,” Begay said. “It’s really hard to be interviewed and not be you through it.”


Girls Inc. member Jaidyn Nichols said it was awesome to have the chance to meet Miss Indiana.


“She’s a role model who’s says if you don’t believe in yourself, you should,” the 11-year-old said.


Nichols said she also had competing in pageants since she was little, and it felt wonderful to be told that she can do anything, despite being young.


Some of the girls in attendance, including Anna Obermeyer, 9, and Ella Murray, 8, had never heard of Miss Indiana or Miss America until meeting Begay. Both girls said, however, that after her talk they felt inspired to try new things and to be happy with who they are.


“If I can reach out to one little girl and give her hope and faith, then I’ve succeeded,” Begay said.


The next step for Begay will be participating in the Miss America pageant.


At 19, Begay will be the youngest member participating in the pageant, but she said it’s a level playing field in that none of the other participants have any more experience at such a high level of competition.


“So we’re going to be a little nervous,” she said.


Begay will be competing on the “Don’t Silence the Violence: A Voice for Children of Domestic Violence” platform, and will be singing for the talent portion of the contest.


After graduating from Indiana University, where is studying journalism and Spanish, Begay said she hopes to become a news broadcaster.


“I’ve always loved public speaking, even when I was young,” she said.


The Miss America pageant contest begins Sept. 6 in Atlantic City, New Jersey.


http://www.tribtown.com/2017/07/26/special_visitor/

Talvez você se interesse também por:
COMENTÁRIOS - Clique aqui para fazer o seu
Novo comentário
Nome

E-mail (não será mostrado, mas será necessário para você confirmar seu comentário)

Comentário (de 1000 caracteres)
Nota: antes de enviar, certifique-se de que seu comentário não possui ofensas, erros de ortografia ou digitação, pois estará sujeito a avaliação e, também, não poderá ser corrigido.

Seja o primeiro a comentar.

Ⓒ MissesNews.com.br  |  Desenvolvimento: