I was invited to speak to the students and parents at Midwood academy's fashion show! Before the show began, I had the opportunity to speak with the models about confidence on the runway... I'm pretty sure I met a few future Miss Americas! During the show I talked about the importance of literacy and how I'm working to make a positive change in the lives of our students. The students wished me the best of Luck at the Miss New York  and gifted me a beautiful bouquet of roses! I've attached some pictures bellow, and even a video of part of my speech! I hope you enjoy it! Remember, pirates don't eat potato chips! 

Some of the downstate Queens and I had the opportunity to attend the Cedarhurst Memorial Day parade. It was exciting to be able to join together with the girls on last time before the Miss New York pageant next week to honor our nation's heros! Check out some of the photos from the event down bellow... I even got to jump up into a fire truck after meeting the chiefs of the Cedarhurst Fire Station!

This Sunday I had the privilege of attending not 1, but two extraordinary events! The first event was a walk at Jones beach with other downstate titleholders! In attendance were Miss Five Boroughs, Miss Manhattan, Miss Greater New York, Miss Flower City, Miss Southern Tier, Miss Cosmopolitan, and Miss Crown City! The walk benefitted the North Shore LIJ Cohen Children's Medical Center! Our team name was "These Crowns Are Made For Walkin' "! Cute, right? We had a super fun morning meeting many of the ambassadors, as well as cheering on the walkers as they walked the 5k! It was especially nice to see all the girls on more time before we all head to Miss NY shortly.   

In the afternoon I headed into Manhattan for the Miss NY's Perfect Pageant! I saw so many friends in the audience, and loved watching the contestants compete in a system that I've never competed in myself! I really enjoyed the show and at the end... I had the chance to model myself! There was a VIP fashion show in which I had the opportunity to wear some Jovani pieces and strut my stuff! I'm so lucky to have had this opportunity, and I have to thank Shiemicka LaShanne for inviting me! I also have to thank Liz Everett for doing my hair and makeup for the show! Along with seeing many familiar faces, I also met many title holders including Miss Teen NJ United States! 

Didn't I tell you a collaboration was coming? I met The Book Fairies at the Long Island Volunteer Fair not too long ago, and I knew we'd have to work together! Today I spent two hours in Freeport organizing the donated books. The Book Fairies collect books through drives and donations and distribute them to communities, schools, and families in needs. I'm so happy that I'm finally a book fairy! Now all I need is a set of wings! Their mission aligns 100% with my platform of Literacy and my quest for equitable funding for all schools. I was so happy to see all the books that would be going to our high-needs communities. The books were in phenomenal condition as well, I was so impressed! I had a great time working with some new friends in order to make sure the books were organized by age. I will be back multiple times to continue aiding in getting these books to our communities... I'm also planning on organizing a book drive... So stay tuned for more information! 

Check out their website here: http://www.thebookfairies.org

This Saturday I had the privilege of attending the QWERTY event hosted by an organization called Girls Write Now. Girls Write Now is an organization that provides creative opportunities to young women. This organization is empowering, and allows our youth to be teamed with mentors who aid them in the creative experience of their choice. This Saturday was all about show casing the incredible talent of the youth in the program. I had the opportunity to learn about the mentor-mentee relationship, as well as read the poetry, short narratives, view photography and art created by the girls in the program. I was so impressed by all of the pieces that I had a chance to look over... I was especially impressed while speaking to the artists themselves! 
One artist that I spent a great amount of time with is Angel Pizarro. Angel is a young poet. I was in awe of her honest and authentic narrative voice. She told me that she would like to major in creative writing just as I'm doing! I know that soon enough we will all b e reading her pieces in magazines and books! Way to go. Angel! 
Check out Angel's work for yourself here: http://internaldepth.tumblr.com

I'm a little behind on blogging because the end of the semester is approaching so rapidly, but there are so many fun events that I still have to write about. A week ago today (Sunday), I attended the Ball Gowns and Bowling Shoes event at Herrill Lanes. The event benefited the New York Angels Pageant, and the Infinite Possibilities Empowerment Center. The New York Angels Pageant is a pageant that empowers individuals with all abilities. It is so similar to the pageant I am the current president of, Miss Exceptional Long Island. It was so exciting to be able to support a cause that I work closely with myself. At the event I saw many familiar faces. It was great to reunite with some pageant sisters for some friendly competition! I was surprised at how well I bowled, I didn't score less that 70 points per game! Who knows, maybe I have a new hobby! 
I also met a few new friends! I met Kaitlin Rowen, who is the current national titleholder for the Miss USA Ambassador system! It was great to learn about her experience in pageantry, as well as talk about school. We both found that we share something else in common... Hofstra Pride! 
I also met Andrea Matteo, who is a New York Angels Ambassador! She's a pro-bowler, and with her help and advice, I was able to score a spare before I left the alley! Thanks Andrea! She's an amazing representative for the system, and she's doing incredible things with her title. 
Before the night was over, I won a raffle prize! I scored a tee shirt from the Miss New York Angels Pageant! I was so excited because I never win raffles! I definitely had the luck of the Irish on my side! 

This weekend I attended two events that followed the same theme, giving!  On Friday morning I headed over to Farmingdale State University and attended the Long Island Volunteer Fair! I've worked with the LIVC before at PS 174, so I was excited to be able to see some familiar faces, and continue to work with them on their mission in sending school supplies to Mumbai! At the fair, I met so many more organizations that I plan on working with in the future. The first is a group called The Book Fairies. They collect and distribute gently used books to schools and communities in need. I hope to set up an evening of reading, or a book drive. Their mission aligns perfectly with my platform and career goal of literacy and equitable funding for all schools. I hope to also team up with the EAC for a night of literacy and empowerment through education. I'm so glad I had the opportunity to network and find organizations that align with my goals for our future. 
At the Long Island Volunteer fair I also had the opportunity to pick out the tickets for the raffle prizes. I had a great time meeting all the prize winners, especially the winner of the cheese basket. I literally cheesed with the cheese.  :-) 
The next morning I woke up bright and early to head to Staten Island to attend the first ever Miss America Serves day! Many of the city title holders attended the "Day at the Races" at the Silver Lakes Specialized Care Center. I had a really fun day with my sisters and I also enjoyed meeting the residents at SLSCC. One resident in particular spoke Italian. Although I don't speak Italian, we had a great conversation about what it means to be bilingual, and how important it is to learn about other cultures in the United States. She taught me some Italian which was so exciting because learning new languages is a passion of mine. I told her all about my Spanish studies at Hofstra University. It's always exciting when you can bond with someone about a mutual passion. 
We had a really fun time playing "A Day at the Races" with the residents! I was a part of team #2... And our team won the first round! Luck of the Irish? I think so! Everyone was so excited to see what number would come up on the die next. I took as many opportunities as possible to take pictures with the residents who were on my team... I think I may have a new lucky number...! 

This weekend was the workshop for the Miss NY 2015 pageant. Of course I wasn't sure what to expect being that this is my first year as a local title holder for the Miss America Organization. I hadn't met any of the contestants in person, and I knew that many of the girls knew each other from previous years of competition. I was indeed a newbie, but I was hoping there would be others too, so that we'd be newbies together!
The workshop began on Friday morning when we met to head to the Capitol. Fortunately, I made friends quickly, and found that I have so much in common with many of the contestants! Gingers stick together, and I enjoyed the ride on the limo bus to the Capitol with two other red-heads by my side! 

When we arrived at the Capitol, we received a tour of the incomplete, but beautiful building! You'd never realize that there's more work to be done because the architecture is so unbelievably breathtaking. We were instructed multiple times to look up at the details of the ceiling. What was so funny about this is that all the ladies held onto their crowns as they looked up! I wasn't expecting the building to be as beautiful and rich with art history as it was. I'm thrilled that we learned so much about it! During our tour we visited the Assembly Chamber, The Million Dollar Staircase,  and also learned about the legend of the curse of the Capitol building! I'm so glad I had the opportunity to share this experience with my new sisters.

Next we headed back onto the bus to return to the hotel. Unfortunately our trip to the CMN hospital was canceled, but we had the opportunity to do something else instead. Although we couldn't physically visit the children, we made get well cards that will be sent to the young patients in the hospital along with gifts! 

To wrap up Friday, we all enjoyed dinner at Prime in Saratoga. The dinner was AMAZING! I recommend it to anyone who's hungry and wants their tastebuds to sing ;-) 
What was so great about this dinner is that I found I had the opportunity to bond with more of my sisters. Kyanna is also a hoop dancer, so we had fun talking all about hooping and learning how to hoop. It's not as easy as it looks, and it takes a lot of dedication, and a lot of bruises to master the art of hoop dance! 

And then before you know it, it was Saturday morning! We woke up early to attend a seminar with Don Baker! He talked to us about being job prepared rather than being pageant prepared. Who's ready for the job of Miss New York? After getting to know many of my sisters, I think all of these ladies are. The judges are going to have an extremely hard time in June! 
During this time we also picked our roommate for the pageant... And I will be rooming with Kyanna! We're already speaking about keeping our hoops together in our room, and we're excited to spend the entire week with one another! 
After this we took a large group picture and learned the opening number dance... And here we are... The Miss New York Class of 2015! Can you find me? :) :)

Soon after we headed to the Miss New York's Outstanding Teen 2015 pageant. What was so fun about the pageant is how excited the enitre audience was to cheer on their contestants. I don't have a teen, so I adopted many and joined the ladies in cheering on every contestant. I had the opportunity to take a picture with Miss New York, as well as near the banner with the five points of the Miss America Organization. Living my life with Style, Service, Scholarship, and Success! 

And of course here comes a huge congratulations to our new Miss New York's Outstanding Teen 2015...Alisa Vasquez! She shined on stage, and I was so happy to be able to share in her excitement! I can't wait to follow her year! 

We finished our weekend off with a fitting for our Kandice Pelletier swimwear! I was sad to say goodbye to some of my new friends, but I know I'm going to see them again in just seven short weeks... Soon enough we will find out who will be the next Miss NY America... So what do you think? Who will she be?

I was invited to speak at PS 174 in Queens this Friday. It was an incredible experience.  The students had the opportunity to write letters to less fortunate children in India, who because of the efforts of Aseema, an NGO in Mumbai, will be receiving educational opportunities. I started off the morning by speaking about the importance of education and reading. The second graders enjoyed talking about how they use reading every day. From reading cereal boxes to street signs, reading is one of our most important and valuable skills! After I spoke, I listened to the ambassadors from the Long Island Volunteer Center speak about their mission. The ambassadors and I aided the children in writing letters. The second graders are so excited to hear back from their new friends in India, what a great learning opportunity! 
After this portion of the day concluded, I was invited next door to hear the chorus sing! They'd prepared to sing "New York State of Mind" to me, and wished me the best of luck as I prepare to compete for the title of Miss New York America 2015! I could not be more thankful to have the support of this school behind me. 
Of course throughout the event I had my teacher hat on, and I have to say, this school is doing some incredible things! Every lesson is constructivist based. The children learn through experiencing, doing, and creating. This style of learning is so much more meaningful than sitting behind a textbook. This school is able to make a balance between the common core and constructivist lessons. I aspire to be a teacher who can find this balance in my career.