Feeling Famous

So today I had a wonderful opportunity of working at a local shelter for children right here in my hometown, HATTIESBURG! I had never heard of this shelter before, and that is because it is a secret. Due to confidentiality and protection of the children, I was sworn to promise that I would not share any info on the kids, or about the location of the shelter. I was so honored that these people found me and ask ME to come!

It was such a wonderful visit, I ended up staying for hours! At first the kids were shy, so I began to tell them how I became Miss Riverbend! I told them about all the areas of competition, and how hard I had worked to win, and how hard I am continuing to work to keep getting better. Most importantly I shared with them the story of how I became a pageant girl. I did not grow up being in pageants, in fact I never thought in a million years I would be that girl walking across stage on tv. Growing up I looked up to these woman, they were smart, they were beautiful, they were talented. I cannot even begin to describe the feeling I get that I am now that role model. With that attitude I shared with the girls how important it is to start concentrating on their lives now if this is something they see in their future. Good grades are important NOW, as well as good moral conduct. They were all so eager, and started to share with me their favorite subjects in school, as well as their talents. Many explained that they want to be in a pageant one day. One girl confessed that because she gets picked on at her school, she does not participate in all the school activities that she would like to. I stood there, all dressed up, in my high heels, make up done, and a crown on my head. I then took the crown off my head and handed it to her to simply explain, "Do you know how many people didn't think I could do this." I told her that she needed to believe in herself and do what made her happy. The best feeling in the world is not only to prove people wrong, but to find out who you really are. I told the girls that I am not going to cry if I leave the pageant without a new crown on my head. I truly believe I have a real reason to be there. It may be to support some one else, to learn more about myself, to push myself to be the very best, or to make a difference in some one else's life. There is no losing in this. So far I have done so much, including the memories from this shelter, that no one can take that away from me. No one can call me a loser. You hold your future in your hand. No one can take away your positive attitude, unless you allow them to. With new hopes and dreams the children all made me a promise to do better in school, and show me their good grades next time I return :) :) :)
BUT before I left, some one had a SIGNATURE  magazine. I was lucky enough to be one of the models in the Spring Fashion section. The kids instantly called me out on it. The Shelter had enough magazines for each kid to have one, where they all asked for my AUTOGRAPH! haha They did a wonderful job of making me feel like a superstar! Two girls had even wrote me letters, telling me how much I meant to them. I'm going back next week, because I could not stop thinking about how important these kids were to me now. After several phone calls with the director, next week we are going to have our very own PAGEANT at the shelter!!!!!!!!! I will teach the girls how to walk and introduce themselves. Then they can dress up and walk one by one, completed with a photoshoot and crowns! If anyone wants to donate lip gloss, or nail polish, or simple girly things to be made into goodie bags, I would TRULY appreciate it! I'm going to make goodie bags for each girl, so bloggers STAY TUNED! I have big plans coming up, and I'm very excited to share them all with you =)

To top it off, some neighborhood kids were riding bikes outside the shelter. As I was leaving, they saw my crown and ran over to talk to me, so I shared with them my story of motivation. Turns out all of these kids were friends from school, who had no where to lived and all lived with one girl's grandmother. Just goes to show everyone has a story; you can never judge a book by its cover. I did not have my camera with me, but they saw my phone so we took some pictures and I emailed them to their grandmother to have! Feeling famous once again!