My Journey to the National Pageant…...
“The will to succeed means nothing without the will to prepare.” -Juma Ikangaa
I think that I started to prepare for nationals about an hour
after I was crowned Miss Teen North Dakota International. Janelle and Meg our North Dakota
International Pageant Directors meet with the newly crowned sister queens and
their families. It was at this meeting that the groundwork started and the
journey to the national pageant began.
True to form, Janelle and Meg were very organized and set the plans in
motion. An outline of the timeframe and expectations for nationals, were
lovingly shared. I can remember thinking
“Yay” and “Yikes” at the same time.
In the following weeks, we started
to talk about what things we could improve upon from the state pageant. We began working on ideas for branding and
creative ideas for effectively sharing my platform. I looked carefully through
the state judges comments and tried to use their feedback to make
improvements. Using what I had learned
from feedback, I followed through on these ideas, as we developed my web site
and as we did my photo shoot. We tried
to keep in mind that these photos would ultimately represent my advertising and
social media at nationals. We also tried to be mindful of this, while we began
building a wardrobe.
One of the new requirements this
year was a “Journey to the Crown” video that each contestant was asked to
submit. It was exciting to have a chance
to talk about my platform, introduce myself and represent my state. It was an
exciting opportunity, but also a bit challenging to decide exactly how I wanted
to do this in the allowed time, via video.
Staying true to my music platform, I decided to sing. Contestants were also asked to do was put
together a backpack, filled with school supplies. The backpack is going be
donated to the boys and girls club. I
hope there is a child who enjoys their music themed backpack, as much as I did,
putting it together for them.
Dresses and jewelry and shoes, oh
my! Over the past few months, my closet
has expanded into the storage space that has connected to my room. The space has been re-purposed and renamed
the “pageant closet.” I am so grateful
my family has been willing to play along. Organization is key here. I knew that things had just “got real” when
Meg and Janelle showed up to approve my nationals wardrobe, and it all ended up
on a detailed spread- sheet!
I have loved this journey… every
minute of prep, the time my mom and I have spent planning and laughing. The people who have touched my life along the
way have been amazing. I feel like the
luckiest girl in the world to have this amazing opportunity. I am truly blessed and truly grateful. See you soon Charleston, West Virginia!
Yours in
Harmony, Payton Hausauer Miss Teen North Dakota 2017