A Visit to St. Petersburg All Children's Hospital

Whew, what a week it's been!  They say you're supposed to take time to smell the roses so I'm doing that as I write this and once again reminding myself how blessed I am.  I can't even begin to thank everyone enough for all the support and kind words I've received.  It is truly amazing and something I'll never forget. The opportunity to be Miss Florida is incredible. I have always felt every contestant competing for the title is worthy of winning and would do a wonderful job and I've been fortunate to meet numerous women who have changed my life over the past three years.  We are intelligent women with career goals and high aspirations.  We are classy and clever with quick wits and kind hearts.  We excel at what we do while staying humble and focused on a bigger picture.

I had a conversation the other day that really impacted me.  A Tampa Bay Rays fan who is a friend of mine approached me at Starbucks the other day and told me he had seen all of the Miss Florida contestants at the Rays game on July 1st.  He said he got some autographs from some of the women and talked with them for a bit in the rotunda.  He came away SO impressed and said he couldn't believe how smart, funny and kind these ladies were.  He said it made him feel better about our country because he knows the future United States is in the hands of powerful women like these.  The story gave me chills and I told him I couldn't agree more.  I am honored to know all of you.

One of my goals is to make Miss Florida as transparent and accessible as possible.  I will be using social media (Facebook and Twitter) to do this but I also want to update this blog daily so everyone knows what types of appearances I'm making.  Furthermore, I think this could be useful for the next Miss Florida as there are many things I've learned already that I wish I knew beforehand.  Here's an update of what I've done so far:

Sunday July 8th:  The morning after Miss Florida finals, I did an interview on ABC news in Tampa.  Mary had told me the previous night at the gala that I would be doing this interview and I needed to be ready to go at 7 am Sunday morning.  Much to my dismay, however, I realized I hadn't brought anything to wear for something like this!  I never thought I would actually win Miss Florida so I had only packed enough dresses to wear to the appearances we had scheduled during the week.  Bad move.  Miss Florida always needs to be prepared for anything that could come her way.  My parents and I drove back to my house in St Petersburg to grab a dress for the next morning but this could have been avoided had I prepared myself properly!  So, back to Sunday morning...when Bill Doniel and I arrived at the station, they told me they would be interviewing me and having me do a sportscast and then do the weather.  I was feeling great until they said "weather."  I've never done a weather broadcast in my life and I knew this could be a recipe for disaster.  But, I think one of the biggest parts of being Miss Florida is learning how to recover when being constantly thrown out of your comfort zone.  I did the weather...or something like that and I think we can all agree weather broadcasting is not in my future but it was a great learning experience.  After my meteorology experiment, I met my parents back at the Hilton and we had our first meeting with Mary and the board.  I was so excited and I still can't believe the board volunteers the time they do.  It's amazing how much all of them give back.

Monday July 9th:  On Monday I had an interview on FOX news in the morning.  I have never felt safer in my life thanks to Bill Doniel and the Miss Florida security detail.  They are all so wonderful and do so much to help us all.  After the FOX interview in the morning, the station told me they wanted me to come back that night as well so we scheduled that and I went over to the Hilton to meet with Mary and Miss Florida's Outstanding Teen Jennifer!  They were frantically working on Jennifer's paperwork as it all has to be in so fast so I watched and tried to learn from what they were doing so I would be more ready for my paperwork.  We all went back to the FOX station that evening and Jennifer got interviewed as well!

Tuesday July 10th:  Mary and I had an interview with the Tampa Bay Times on Tuesday morning which was really nice.  They gave me a chance to talk about the scholarship aspect of the Miss America Organization and also to praise the amazing women that compete for these titles.  Then, I decided it was probably time to hit the gym.  Mary and I are working on our plan for fitness as well as talent, platform, hair, wardrobe...you name it.  There is so much that goes into Miss America preparation and I am determined to represent Florida the best I can so I want to be as prepared as possible.  I've had so much fun bouncing ideas off Mary and getting her opinion on things.  This woman knows what she's doing!

Thursday July 11th: Mary and I worked on some more paperwork and I visited St. Petersburg All Children's Hospital.  I have a friend named Matt (he's 16) and he's confined to a wheelchair.  He had an accident and was rushed to the hospital so I ran over to see him and was able to visit some other children there too.  It's so important to me to make sure I don't limit myself in appearances.  I want to do anything and everything I can even if it's not related to my platform at all.  I'm still getting used to what it's like being Miss Florida but I've already noticed the impact it has on people when you walk in their hospital room with that crown on.  I will never forget the smiles that instantly take over these children's faces.