Hometown: Unincorporated King County, WA Date of Birth: December 4, 1991 Education: University of Washington – Bachelor of Science, Civil Engineering; Bellarmine Preparatory School
Platform Issue: Cancer Support through Bone Marrow and Blood Donation
Scholastic/Career Ambition: Obtain a Bachelors of Science in Civil Engineering and continue on to Medical School eventually becoming an oncologist.
Talent: Piano
Scholastic Honors: National Honors Society; Advance Placement World History, Psychology, Spanish, and Composition student; 3.92 cumulative high school Grade Point Average (at end of Junior year) with honors; Washington State Honors Award; and President's Education Awards Program
Leadership Roles: YMCA Youth & Government Post Master General (youngest major officer in history of program), District Two Representative for Secretary of State, Governor's Cabinet, page, and senator
Accomplishments: Chosen to play in honors recital for piano adjudication; traveled to Argentina to study Spanish in 2008; current volunteer for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and Seattle Children's Hospital; volunteered at/for Nativity House, Phoenix Housing, Adopt-a-Family, Complejo de Integración Social para la Niñez y la Adolescencia and Padre Vito Orphanages; tutored at DeLong Elementary School
Interesting Facts: Travels to El Salvador annually to visit family; has visited Honduras, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Argentina, and Uruguay; advanced Spanish speaker; taught pet cat to shake hands; can recite the alphabet backwards; plays violin; favorite book is The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald; first to attend college w/brother commutes to the University of Washington via Sounder Commuter Rail from Auburn; blood donor; 2nd Runner-Up to Miss Auburn; voted Miss Congeniality 2010
Employment: Filing clerk/intern, Sosa Law Firm, Auburn, WA September 2009-current
How has the world you come from shaped your dreams and aspirations? I grew up with parents who taught me that I was the only one stopping myself from achieving my goals. My parents wanted something very different for me than they did for themselves which was made evident through my parents' emphasis on the importance of schooling. I come from very humble beginnings and those humble beginnings have done nothing but propelled me toward higher education, service to my community, and toward my aspirations of becoming an oncologist to one day support my parents who have not only been supportive of me my entire life but have fostered my dreams and aspirations.
Of all the ways you could succeed in your life, why have you chosen to succeed in the Miss America Pageant? The Miss America Pageant stands for something unlike any other pageant or program in the world which is advancement of women not only as perceived by communities but in education as well. As someone who holds education to the utmost importance, the Miss America Organization goes hand in hand with my beliefs that women need to continue their college education (something very close to my heart) by being the largest provider of scholarship dollars to women and promoting the advancement of women.
What social issue, other than your platform, will have the greatest impact on your generation and why? Fifty years ago, now, and fifty years from now, the social issue that will undoubtedly impact my generation most is social and peer pressure. So many negative qualities stem from simple peer pressure that most people disregard as normal and expected in my generation. Whether it be underage drinking, stealing, or littering in a public park, I've seen the horrible effects of peer pressure and know that it is the underlying cause of several problems facing my generation.
