UCA, Here I Come!

I rather frequently, and sometimes jokingly, tell my mother that all roads lead to Miss America and I suppose in some ways that mentality is parallel to the "red car" syndrome (you know, where you buy a red car and all of a sudden everywhere you go, behold, RED CARS!) Yes, i'm sure there is a more accurate psychological term for it, but I'm sticking with red car syndrome for now.

Anyways, once I began competing in the Miss America system, I began to frequently take note of things, people, and events that all had some affiliation or connection with the Miss America system. I've gotten now, where when I see a woman wearing a stylish dress in my mind I think: 'hmmmm, arrival? Interview?'

But, since the Miss America system truly promotes and believes in the pursuing of education, I feel it's appropriate to mention my recent admissions to and registration with the University of Central Arkansas in Conway.

I will be pursuing my Bachelors of Music, focusing on Piano Performance, and minoring in Broadcast Journalism.

During the fall semester, I will be taking six classes including American History, Intro to Drama, and one I'm really excited about, French I (Oui, Oui!)

I look forward to continuing my never ending education at UCA and hopefully, in the process, I will develop that elusive collegiate ideal, school spirit.

Go Bears!

- Bethany

Meetings, Moms, and Miss Arkansas!!!

Wow, what a busy few weeks this has been!

Last week, we (my faithful mother and I) set out for Little Rock, AR for the Miss Arkansas contestant meeting!

The first phase of this journey began Saturday evening when I participated in the incredible Tony Bowls fashion shoot at Jason Masters Studio in LR. I can confidently say that the few hours I spent there, literally getting the royal treatment, were some of the most fun I've ever had.

I was so impressed by the stylists, hair/makeup, photographer, assistants, and of course, Tony not only for the fantastic job they did, but their enthusiasm and excitement throughout the shoot considering they had been working since 8:00 am and mine was one of the last shoots at 8:00 pm that evening.

I absolutely loved my hair and makeup as well as the beautiful dress and accessories Tony picked for me to wear. The professional pictures will be online soon, but here's a little sneak peek of what I looked like:

The next day following the shoot, we made our way to the Pleasant Valley Country Club for the Miss Arkansas fashion show and contestant meeting. I had so much fun modeling my cocktail dress from Applause and then my TB opening number dress.

The fashion show was followed by the contestant meeting in which we learned the various rules and regulations, scheduling, and overall process of the Miss Arkansas competition week and beyond. It was great getting to see all of the contestants, meeting many new girls, and the realization that right there, in that room, sat the future Miss Arkansas.

They also gave out some great door prizes to each contestant! During this meeting, each contestant chose their placement for competition nights. You can check out my placement and photo on the miss Arkansas website: http://www.missarkansas.org/contestants.htm

The next day, Monday, all the contestants, and our lovely Miss Arkansas, Alyse Eady, gathered once more for the Annual Golf Tournament, again at the Pleasant Valley Country Club. Wearing our matching t-shirts, sponsored by Venue (Tommy Lyons) we hit the golf carts and made our way through the beautiful course occasionally stopping to watch the golfers, chat with the other girls, try to decide whether or not it was appropriate to clap when a golfer made a particularly good hit...swing...(Obviously, I'm not up to date on my golf lingo.), and of course taking pictures with the golfers and the two fabulous prizes.

1. a beautiful yellow (Transporter style) camaro

2. an equally beautiful black and red Harley Davidson motorcycle.

I had a fun time driving around with the other Northeast Arkansas area contestants, Natalie Marcus (miss greater jonesboro), kelsey dow (miss arkansas state university), and somer allen, (miss northeast arkansas).

The neat thing was that as well all rode around together in our golf cart doing what we do best (being fabulous!) all of our mothers were also together doing what the do best, (talking and shopping :)

Sunday evening, after the contestant meeting, several of the contestants met up at Solemates, a delightful boutique shoe (and accessories) shop and I got two delightful new pairs of shoes for which I am looking for an excuse to wear.

Here is one of them, the name of which is: Emerald City...isn't it fabulous!

All-in-all, it was a great weekend from which I gained new memories, friends, pictures, and shoes!

The meeting really put me in the mindset of a competitor and I am more focused and determined than before.

PEO and MAO

Wednesday afternoon I had the lovely opportunity to speak and perform for one of the PEO chapters here in Blytheville. I was privileged to speak to the women about the correlation between the Miss America Organization and the PEO (Philanthropic Education Organization) which is another organization that promotes the advancement and education of women. I also performed three pieces, A Stormy Voyage by Christopher Goldston, A Whole New World (from the movie Aladdin) and my talent piece for Miss Arkansas.

Music at the Manor!

Music. Living, changing, moving. Music is one of those inexplicable gifts that we all have access to and for those of us who have made a study of it, we have the pleasure of sharing it with others; which is what myself and my teen queen, Emma Jumper had the privilege of doing this past saturday.

We were invited to perform for the residents of Magnolia Manor, a lovely assisted living community, in Piggot,AR. We were both delighted to find the lovely baby grand piano they had available for us to play on. One bane of being a pianist is that you are unable to take your instrument with you wherever you go and must make the best of what your provided with, but I digress.

We spent the better part of 90 minutes speaking about our experiences in the MAO, sharing about our respective platforms, and telling about ourselves personally, as well as performing several pieces of music for the residents and their families. As the residents were mostly of an earlier generation, I performed three selections for the WWII era, Some Enchanted evening (South Pacific), My way (Frank Sinatra), and a requested piece, As Time Goes By (from Casablanca)

It was a lovely afternoon and I was glad to be apart of it!