Miss North Dakota International 2016 Crowning Moment

February 25, 2016

Miss North Dakota International 2016 Crowning Moment

Have you ever just smiled because you really don’t know what is going on or what to do—well that was me at my crowning moment! Let me put it into perspective for you.

Being new to this particular pageant and have only done one other pageant a couple months prior, it was all very new to me. There is so much going on and you know that just in a matter of moments someone’s life is going to dramatically change.

I remember standing on stage, looking at all the people around me—so beautiful in every way, their dresses, their smiles and simply everything that surrounded us. If there is any kind of advice about pageant weekend, it is ALWAYS to embrace and hold tight to every moment.

So there I was, soaking up everything around me and watching the crowning’s of the Junior Miss Teen and the Miss Teen. I was so excited for their new journey and how they would embark on it this year. Then the time came for the Miss’s to gather to the front of the stage. I walked to the front and grasped the other girls’ hands, looked each one in the eyes and just smiled. We all had a sparkle in our eyes and let’s be honest, sweaty palms too. I was so happy for each of us to have been in that moment together, happy to have gotten so close to each girl, and just happy to have had this opportunity together. Each of us were full of emotion and clenching hands when the first runner up was called. After celebrating her victory we grabbed hands all the more tighter. I was thinking of how proud I was of each girl and how each one of them were deserving of the crown in different ways. I was thinking of all these things and just smiling with joy when suddenly . . . Boom, My thoughts were quickly interrupted.

After figuring out what was happening I had also come to realize I had no idea what to do and that perhaps I should have listened a little more carefully during rehearsals about the crowning moments. Oops.

But I quickly gathered myself, gestured a thank you to the judges, and was bombarded with flowers, a sash, and of course the crown. Although, as the crown was placed on my head, I heard, “uh oh, I forgot the clips . . .” Luckily enough, I successfully balanced the crown to the back of the stage where the tears of joy then welded in my eyes.

The last queen was announced and we all came to the front as sisters.

Our photographer, Ludvik Herrera, took many pictures of us on stage with the judges, the directors, and the previous title holders but I was honestly just anxious to get to my mother and friends at the edge of the stage. I really couldn’t be more thankful for their support every time I entered that stage.

There are really no words to describe the feeling of being crowned, but when it is your time, no one can take that away from you. Embrace what is around you and cherish it all because God doesn’t make mistakes. I am so proud of every girl at the pageant in that each one is spectacular and I am lucky enough to have met them and call them friends. The night may have flashed in a blink of an eye but after my adrenalin had started to die down and my feet began to ache, I knew my bed was calling my name!