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For my last blog post, here is my farewell speech from the Miss Delaware Tribute Brunch.
When your name is called as Miss Delaware a rush of emotions
comes over your crowning which can only be equated to euphoria. The first walk
almost takes you to a different world.
You see everyone looking at you with joy, excitement, and most
importantly, expectation. It is the
expectation set by the paths of previous Miss Delaware’s before me. I strove to create my own path and I am very
proud of the journey I had.
However I have found that it is nearly impossible to write a
speech. There are so many different
things I want to say without becoming long winded, boring, or too serious. I pondered on this for a while and decided
the best way to express my year is to speak to the future Miss Delaware. Giving her the tips and tricks for this year.
1.
You will be busy. The first week after crowning you will become
extremely familiar with your new kingdom of Delaware. The first week of Miss Delaware is jam packed
with appearances, fittings, pictures, etc…
Day 3 after crowning I had 3 parades in one day. After the first parade
in Bethany. I was running back to my car to head to the next parade when a
little boy and his father ran up to me.
The little boy had Downs Syndrome and was going through
chemotherapy. His father said that
during the entire parade, all he could talk about is how he wanted to meet the
beautiful princess. He smiled, said I
was beautiful and gave me a kiss on the cheek.
No amount of stress or business should stop you from experiencing the
beautiful moments.
2.
The next tip, almost contradictory but Miss
America is not the end goal. At Miss
America you will meet 52 of the most beautiful, kind, intelligent women in the
USA. They will become your best
friends. One of my favorite events this
year was going to New York City with Miss Iowa and meeting the performers of
the Musical Little Miss Sunshine. That
event completely came from my relationship with her. Most importantly Miss America is a place for
you to discover who you are. You will
experience stress, frustration, anger, and you will find out who you are under
these circumstances. You will also
experience friendship, fun, laughter, and joy.
There are very few moments in life where you can experience the whole
gamut of human emotion and the human experience. Miss America is that cherished chance to be
better than who you already are.
3.
Strength. Miss America prepares you to be a
stronger person. During this year you
will go to parties, galas, government functions, and joyous occasions. More importantly, you will see people who are
struggling. During Christmas time, Miss Delaware goes to all of the Children’s
hospitals in the state. You will see
children with mental disabilities, cancer, illness, and other ailments. When you go to the hospitals, you are not
important. You are there solely to bring
joy to the children who need a little happiness in their life. It is a huge responsibility and you must be
strong for them. Those days were the
most exhausting part of my Miss Delaware reign.
However it makes it all worthwhile when you see a child’s face light
up. A doctor ran up to me at the
hospital and said a child desperately wanted to see me. When I walked in, she started bawling because
she was so excited to see me. I asked
her why she was crying and she said because I want to be just like you when I
grow up.
4.
Next advice is that no matter how you feel you
must be a positive light for those you come into contact with. You must be the person that you want people
to emulate. Christmas Eve, I was misdiagnosed with Lymphoma. Christmas time a
packed time for Miss Delaware and I did not miss any appearances. The day I got a biopsy, I left for New York City
to sing at the Colgate Games. I sang the
Star Spangled Banner in front of thousands of people with a golf ball sized
lump on my neck. When I sang, all the girls started hooting and
hollering and they told me that I sounded better Alicia Keys. I made an effort to talk to each girl and
give photo pads to each one. They did
not know that I was going through a dark time in my life and I did not want
them to know because this would be the only time they would come into contact
with a Miss Delaware and I wanted them to remember what the crown
represents. I kept this private from
everyone,
5.
6.
though it turned out to be ok. For two weeks, I had to live with the
possibility I might have cancer. It made
me think about having to give up the crown early because I wouldn’t have been
able to continue my duties. It made me
rethink the rest of my year.
7.
Focus on the Service. As you have been coached, there are four
points on the crown. Scholarship, Style,
Success, Service. Service, for me, was
the best part of this year. I went to
many events involving Foster Children. I
handed out over 500 books to foster children this year, I gave presents to
foster children during Christmas time, I spoke at Child Inc.’s 50th
anniversary dinner, I spoke at Lyme Disease meetings. These events are what make your year
different from any other previous Miss Delaware. The crown has a power behind it, use it to
help a cause you are passionate about.
8.
Have fun!
The majority of your appearances are at schools doing something called
character counts. This program
encourages young children to become upstanding citizens in the future. During these presentations, I would have a
question and answer session. My favorite
questions include.
a.
Are you a real princess?
b.
Do you have a limo?
c.
Are you single?
Followed by, is Mr. Delaware your boyfriend?
d.
Are you wearing makeup?
e.
And my all time favorite question was “Do you
like rocks?” When I said yes the little
boy proceeded to pull a giant rock out of nowhere and give it to me.
My last bit of advice for you, future Miss
Delaware, is to cherish each and every moment your crown is on your head. The year will be over before you know it, I
know mine was. Being Miss Delaware is a
highlight of my life. I will miss
wearing the crown. Someday I might put it on in the safety of my own home while
watching the newest Game of Thrones just to feel a little bit of the magic that
the crown possesses. However, part of
what makes this experience so rewarding is that it is so fleeting. It has been a pleasure being your Miss
Delaware 2013 and I look forward to seeing the young women from this
organization succeed.
Today is the day, I will be giving up my crown. I am feeling quite nostalgic at this moment
because this year has been the most rewarding year of my life. Each parade, appearance, interview, and
person has changed me for the better. It
has been an honor to represent the state of Delaware. I know that this is just a brief stop on my
journey but I will cherish my Miss Delaware Title for the rest of my life. Looking forward to crowning Miss Delaware
2014 and seeing what an amazing adventure they have.
Love
Rebecca Jackson
Miss Delaware 2013
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