Page 6 - Iris Tennessee Teen Judges Book 2022

What can you do during your Tenure of Service as a Titleholder to impact your community?
Growing up, I didn’t have the best home life. I want to teach and be an example to children that they can get through it, not become a product of their environment and come out stronger in the end. Over 538,000 children reside in a single-parent household with a parent who has an illicit drug use disorder. I want to show and prove to children that they can aspire to be anything no matter where they come from.
What has been your involvement with your platform?
I became an advocate for Metastatic Melanoma in October of 2021. Since then, I have done a Jeans Day fundraiser at my school where I raised almost $200 to help my soccer coach pay his medical bills. I am also planning an alumni soccer game for next soccer season where former Chester County High School soccer players will play against the current team. I am hoping this will not only raise a lot of money to help Coach Judd, but to help raise awareness for metastatic melanoma and become an annual event.
What inspired you to first become involved in your platform?
In July 2020, my soccer coach, Jason Judd, was diagnosed with Metastatic Melanoma. Seeing him go through his treatments and surgeries made me want to speak up and spread awareness about metastatic melanoma. I want to encourage and educate our community on how it can affect men and women. By holding events and fundraisers,I want to raise money to help pay for some of Coach Judd’s medical bills and do anything I can to help him and his family and any other families who might be in the same situation.
If you are selected as the winner, how would you mobilize and market your platform nationally?
If I were chosen as Miss Tennessee Iris Teen, I want to be in schools talking to kids, at civic luncheons talking to adults, and in hospitals comforting those going through treatment. Metastatic Melanoma isn’t talked about much when talking about cancer. I want to go to as many people as I can and talk about the effects of cancer not just in the person diagnosed, but with their loved ones as well. My goal is to reach as many people as I can as Miss Iris Tennessee Teen. Since the Miss Volunteer America Organization is still new, I am wanting to get our name out there as much as possible by speaking anywhere I can to as many Tennesseans as I can.
How would you utilize social media in order to positively further your position as a titleholder if you are selected as the winner?
As a teenager, social media is everything to my generation. As Miss Alexandria's Iris Teen, I currently use my social media to document my journey and promote my platform. As Miss Tennessee Iris Teen, I would continue to use the state titleholder and personal social media pages to help promote my platform, encourage young children nationwide, and promote the Miss Volunteer America Organization as a whole.