What are your hobbies?
In my free time I enjoy playing tennis, scrapbooking, painting, singing, playing the piano and oboe, watching Saved By The Bell reruns and Grey’s Anatomy, camping, canoeing, cooking, decorating cakes, playing with my hilarious cat, Gracie, and playing board games with my friends and family.

What makes you special and unique?
I’m definitely not your typical college student. Along with being a full time student, I also have the full time job of running the University of Mississippi's news station, NewsWatch! When a business and its employees depend on your choices, you have to make the best ones you possibly can. Being the manager of NewsWatch has taught me so much about myself, and also about what I can accomplish as a strong and confident woman.

What is the best advice you have ever received?
My mother always tells me to remember to be true to myself. I’ve always known who I am and heeded her advice, even when it’s hard to be the one who isn’t following the norm. But at the end of the day I’m always proud of myself for making the choices that I have made, and I know my mom (and dad!) are proud of me, too!

Name one thing you cannot live without.
I literally cannot make it through a day without lip balm. I’m allergic to cinnamon which is in EVERYTHING in tiny amounts, so my lips are always very dry from being exposed to it. I have tubes of lip balm everywhere – in my purse, by my bed, in my car, in drawers all over my house, on my desk at work, and in most of my coat pockets...it’s my lifesaver!

What is the most valuable lesson you ever learned?
Over the years, the most important thing I have learned is to never underestimate myself. It’s easy for young women to sell themselves short, but it’s so important to not let setbacks ground your dreams! I’ve learned that dreams take perseverance, determination, and usually more than one mistake along the way, but that if you are willing to work hard you CAN and WILL accomplish your goals – no matter how big!

Who is your most valued role model and why?
My dad is my role model. He is such an amazing person – I try every day to be like him. He is the wisest and most understanding person I know, and he always has the right answers. I hope that someday I’ll grow to be as incredible of a person and a parent as he is.

What was your most unexpected moment?
Being crowned Miss Deep South! It was only my second local to ever compete in, and I had no idea I could actually win! My parents weren’t even there - the program was a 4 hour drive from Oxford, so I had told my parents to just come to the next one!

What is your workout routine?
My best friend and I have a gym date almost every night – we talk about our day during cardio and then encourage each other through weight training every other day. She makes me keep going that extra little push each time – she’s the best. Working out with someone makes it more than just a workout – it's bonding time so I actually look forward to it!

What has been your biggest accomplishment to date?
My biggest accomplishment was being selected as the manager of the University of Mississippi's television station, NewsWatch. The station is completely student-run, which means at 22 I'm actually a boss. I do everything any other boss would do - hiring, firing, auditions, training, teaching, even payroll. The job is incredibly hard at times, but I would do it again in a heartbeat. I have learned so many great things during my time as Station Manager, and I have given everything I can back to the station in return.

What is the best compliment you have ever received?
One of my teachers once told me that I was the hardest working student they’d ever had. That was the best compliment I’ve ever received, because to me being a hard worker is more important than just being intelligent. The goal is to have both motivation and intelligence, but I have never been the kind of student who can make good grades without studying. Her words have helped remind me throughout my college career that hard work doesn't go unnoticed, and that if something is worth achieving it’s worth the hard work.

What is your secret wish?
I have to cheat and say I two wishes. First, I wish we lived in a world of acceptance and compassion. I think we should all be working toward that goal every day. As 19th century English novelist Mary Ann Evans, better known by her pen name of George Eliot, once said, “Why are we on this earth if not to make life better for others?” My second wish is to be cast as Cinderella at Disney World so I could spend my days making little girls’ lives better by making their dreams of meeting a princess come true!

What was your most embarrassing moment?
A few summers ago I was anchoring for NewsWatch one night when another anchor’s microphone suddenly went out. I could see the problem was that it had come unclipped from its power cord. As soon as we got to a commercial break, I stood up and bent over to plug back in the cord. All of the sudden, it got really quiet, and I stood up and looked at the display television, and realized I was staring at myself – the director had apparently come back from commercials early while I was bent over with my backside facing the cameras! To make matters even worse, we anchors are usually only dressed in our business attire from the waist up because no one ever sees from the waist down. Well, on that particular day I was wearing hot pink running shorts with my suit coat! One friend’s mom still refers to me as “the hot pink shorts girl!” But I was very proud of myself because despite the fact that my face was beet red for the rest of the show, I sat right down and pretended nothing had happened!

What is your biggest guilty pleasure?
I love candy! There is a candy shop in our town and I go pretty much every week. I almost always have a bag of Skittles or Sour Patch Kids with me. Some people need coffee to get them through the day – I need a little sugar!

What is your favorite movie and why?
My all time favorite movie is Legally Blonde, but not because it’s cute or girlie. I was very shy growing up, and as silly as it may seem, seeing that movie impacted my life. I knew that I had that confident girl inside me, and seeing that movie made me decide it was time to be the woman I knew I was. To this day, if I have to attend an event and I’m feeling a little insecure, or if I just need a confidence boost, I watch Legally Blonde. It reminds me that I AM that confident and kind person, and that I should always be myself (no matter what stereotypes people may have against blondes)!

What is your favorite color and why?
My favorite color is red. I have a painting in my room that I made that says, “When in doubt, wear red!” It’s true – red is just naturally an empowering, feel-good color.

What do you like to do for fun... relaxation... recreation?
Haha, relaxation? What is that? No, seriously, while I love my job and I consider it to be a lot of fun, it definitely doesn’t leave much time for relaxation. But when I do get a Saturday to myself, I love to just lay in my big comfortable chair and read a book, or work on my many scrapbooks. For recreation, I play tennis every chance I get and I love to go canoeing on the lake. And as for fun, I try to make every day fun, whether I’m at work, in class, or with my friends or family! If you can’t have fun doing everyday tasks, then you either need new tasks or a new outlook on life!

What would be your dream vacation or destination?
I hope to someday travel around the world to make a documentary about different religions of the world. One of my religion teachers once explained that the reason we were watching a documentary from the 1980s was because there had been very few made on that topic since then, and none that were any good! I want to help educate young adults about other religions, because knowledge is the first step to acceptance. I really will consider it a vacation though, because there’s no way I could consider it work to visit fascinating people and places all over the world!

What do you like best about your hometown?
You know I must really love my hometown of Oxford since I chose to attend college in the same town where I’ve lived my whole life! Living in a town where you also have a college is almost like living in two places at once – it’s the small town feeling and the exquisite Southern culture that make Oxford so unique paired with the incredible education and opportunities that Ole Miss is known for. I can’t imagine having grown up anywhere else!

What do you like best about the state of Mississippi, besides our food & hospitality?
When you’ve lived in the South your whole life, as I have, sometimes you take the culture for granted. Whenever I go visit relatives in Michigan I am reminded how different our culture really is. For instance, if you wave at someone you don’t know in the North, they’ll just give you a really confused look - or worse! It is so wonderful to live in a place where the comment made by my relatives whenever the visit is, “Wow, everyone is so nice!”

What's in your CD player or on your iPod right now?
I love all kinds of music, so I keep my iPod on shuffle. Let’s see, the last 5 songs that played were “One Fine Day” by The Chiffons, “Why Should I Worry” from Disney’s Oliver and Company, “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey, “One Hand in My Pocket” by Alanis Morrisette, and “Manic Monday” by The Bangles. I definitely like variety!

Where do you see yourself in ten years?
In ten years I hope to be working for CNN or the BBC as an international correspondent reporting from the Middle East. I hope to have been married for a few years and be making plans to start a family in the near future. I want to live my dream of traveling the world as a journalist before I start a family because once I’m a mother I want to make sure I can devote my time to my kids, not just to a job, and I’ll definitely want to be living in the South!

Who am I?
I am a 22 year old college student at the University of Mississippi. I will graduate in May with a degree in Journalism and a minor in Religion. I plan to attend graduate school next year to earn my master’s degree in Middle Eastern and Eastern studies, specializing in religion.

I am the manager of NewsWatch, the University of Mississippi's news station. Yes, that is a job, but it’s also a huge part of who I am. I still remember the day I walked into the CNN Center to take the tour with my family, and thinking, “This is what I want to do for the rest of my life!” I love the excitement of breaking news, and the emotion that can be involved in telling a person’s story. I can think of no greater job than being the liaison between our part of the world and other areas we might not otherwise know about or understand. For that reason, my ultimate goal is to someday work as an international correspondent for a major news organization. I hope to report from parts of the East and Middle East so that people in the United States can see that they really aren’t so different from us. I firmly believe that the first step to acceptance is knowledge, so I want to provide that knowledge about parts of the world we might not otherwise understand.

Some other things about me? I love sushi and macaroni and cheese – if I had to pick one of those to eat every day for the rest of my life, either one would be just fine and I know I would never get tired of it! I love the beach and my favorite thing to do there is to go sea kayaking. I love being outside and camping, which for some reason usually surprises people! I have the best friends in the world, and I am so blessed to have them in my life. I think the best thing about attending college in my hometown is that I’m near my family. My mom and dad have always been my biggest fans and my support system, and I like to be able to keep an eye on my little brother! I’m just a happy person, and I love to laugh and making others laugh. My days can get really stressful at work, but I know that if I can laugh about something then it’s really not that bad!

Tell us about your occupational experience.
Over the last year, I have served as the Station Manager of NewsWatch, the University of Mississippi's television news station. Many colleges around the country have student news stations, but only a handful of these stations are completely student-run, as NewsWatch is. This means that while I have been a full time student, I have also been in charge of a daily, live broadcast and over 50 employees. Being the NewsWatch Station Manager is sometimes incredibly tough, but the tough times are worth it when I see the anchors and reporters learning new things and having fun while doing it. I have worked for NewsWatch all four years of college – I actually started anchoring the summer before my freshman year! Over the last four years, I am proud to say that I have learned every job and detail about the news room. I have been a reporter, an anchor, a producer, and assignment editor, a director, a camera person, the News Director, and now, the Station Manager. Knowing those jobs has allowed me to be the best manager I can be.

I have actually been working since I was 15. I worked at the School of Business as an office assistant for a few years in high school, and I assist them now with media and other special projects. I also worked for a bakery in town for 3 years, which was an incredibly fun job! I started out working with customers, eventually tried my hand at decorating the cakes, and then began doing elaborate cakes and wedding cakes. I still decorate cakes whenever I can, and I’ll use any opportunity to make an extravagant cake! When I retire from journalism one day I’m definitely planning to open up my own specialty and wedding cake shop.

Tell us about your platform.
My platform is Project J.E.W.E.L., the Journey Empowering Women in Effective Leadership. Many young women experience at least one moment in their life when they think, “I am not good enough.” I created Project J.E.W.E.L. to help young women realize their full leadership potential. Everyone young woman has leadership potential, but some need a little encouragement to show them they can really do it! With all of the opportunities and wonderful female role models out there today, I believe this is a wonderful time to be focusing on women in leadership.

This platform is more than just something I participate in – it is who I am. I was once a shy and insecure young woman, and although I knew I wanted to be a leader I just didn’t know how to become one. Many years later I have overcome my insecurities and am the manager of our student television station, but I’ve also realized that being a leader is not just about what you accomplish; it’s about always being true to yourself as you work toward your goals!

Because of my journey, I have the innate desire to help others take that journey as well. I have traveled all over the state speaking to young women in junior high, high school, and in other organizations about what being a leader is really about and how making good choices is so important to being an effective leader. With this program, my goal is to show young women that being a woman is a wonderful thing, not something that will hold you back. Women bring valuable assets to the table as leaders, and I want all young women to know that! Each of the young women I speak with has her own story, and I feel so blessed to have been given the opportunity to be a part of their journey toward becoming an effective leader.