Teen Excellence Awards

May has been a busy month! Getting ready for the end of school (and final exams!) and final preparations for the Miss Texas/Miss Teen Texas pageant next month. I also had a week's worth of tryouts for color guard at school. I was excited to make the squad again this year because it is so much fun!

One of the best appearances so far this month was the Teen Excellence Awards held in Clear Lake by Solutions for Teen Life. The event honored the at-risk teens who had recently completed their year-long mentoring program. I was extremely impressed by their accomplishments and was so happy to see their success.

Lone Star Princess Party

I attended a PJ Party for Texas Lone Star Princesses. The party was organized by one of the LSP moms, Heather Terpstra, as a way for the girls to meet before they get to Arlington in June. There were girls from several delegations including Houston, Harris County, Sugar Land, White Rock Lake and more. Through the evening, there was dancing, making flip flops and buttons and eating lots of pizza and cupcakes. These girls are adorable and I can't wait to see them again. A special shout out goes to my LSP's, Alison McClelland and Victoria Pasat. I love you!!!!!

Special Olympics

Today I attended the Special Olympics competition in Houston. This was truly a memorable experience and I can't wait to do it again. The athletes were talented, enthusiastic and very supportive of each other. Their joy was contagious as medals were handed out for their hard work in track and field events. There were so many dedicated volunteers who worked hard to organize a fun event for the athletes with not only sports but an athlete village with dancing, karaoke, awards, food and more. This program is so important and I was overwhelmed by how many volunteers came out to support the event, including many queens and Lone Star Princesses. The only bad thing was that my sister was not feeling well and could not join me. A huge thank you to Duc Nguyen for allowing me to be a part of it!

NAMI Walk Houston

I met up with Megan Clark, Miss Great Plains, in downtown Houston to take part in the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) walk. NAMI is an organization devoted to mental health awareness and advocacy. Since my platform concerns youth mental health awareness, I really wanted to participate in this event. Before the walk began, we were given the chance to speak to the group on why we were there and then we were allowed to cut the starting ribbon. It was a hot and humid Houston morning but Megan and I walked the three miles and worked up a nice sweat. Along the way we met some wonderful volunteers and walkers. The team from Gallery Furniture carried Capuchin monkeys that were adorable. We also walked along with Channel 13 news anchor, Sharron Melton, who is a former Miss New Mexico! I encourage everyone to take part in a NAMI walk if one is organized in your city!