What are your hobbies?
I enjoy singing and performing; horseback riding; working out and staying physically fit; cooking and collecting cookbooks; shoe shopping with friends; and spending time with family.

What makes you special and unique?
I was named after both my grandmothers and my great-grandmother. My first name, Anna, came from my great-grandmother, Anna Black. My middle name, Elizabeth, is actually shared by both my Grandma Sarah and Grandma Tadlock, so all three of us have the same middle name!

What is the best advice you have ever received?
My parents instilled in me from a very early age to stand up for my beliefs and opinions and not to be ashamed of them. My mother always says, "Anna, open your mouth and speak." Because of that advice, I have learned to speak out and speak up for what I believe to be right, even if that meant being different from my peers or receiving criticism. It is a lesson that has helped to ground me in my faith and my beliefs.

Name one thing you cannot live without.
As a human being, I understand that I am not perfect and that many times if I want to learn something, I must do so by trial and error. No one, including myself, can live without making mistakes in life. It is how we learn about ourselves and mature into adulthood. Yet, I've created this into a two-part answer. I am blessed to know that although I cannot live without mistakes, I therefore cannot live without the grace of Jesus and my personal relationship with Him. When I fall down, He is there to pick me up, and that gives me daily comfort and peace within myself.

What is the most valuable lesson you ever learned?
When you begin a task or make plans to attain a goal, always follow through to the end and DON’T GIVE UP! So many times people fall short of following their dreams because of discouragement. We should remember that our goals can’t always be met overnight; invested time will build the skills we need to work hard and achieve them, whatever they may be.

Who is your most valued role model and why?
My parents possess every quality that I aspire to have in my lifetime. Their love for each other and their family has always been a number one priority, and they have given me the kind of love and upbringing that I want to pass on to my children one day. Besides that, I hope that maybe I might be able to run as well as my dad and cook as well as my mom!

What was your most unexpected moment?
This past August, I was contacted by the University Television Center at Mississippi State University to see if I would be interested in trying out for a part in our "Step into the Maroon" recruitment commercial. Excited about the opportunity, I agreed hoping that I would be contacted again so I would know when and where to try out. To my surprise, they did call me back, but it was to tell me that they had decided to go ahead and let me play the lead role! I was so honored to represent my university in this way. Now the commercial plays every time the Dawgs play sports on television!

What is your workout routine?
Working out does for me what meditation does for other people. It's a time I set aside for myself so that I can focus and relieve some daily stress. Along with a healthy diet, walking and running with overall body strength training almost every day keep my metabolism up, my muscles strong, and my body relaxed. It's a part of my life that I enjoy, so I never view being active as a chore.

What has been your biggest accomplishment to date?
In May 2008, I will graduate and receive my diploma from Mississippi State University with a degree in communication. This will be my biggest accomplishment because I truly value my education and what it can do for me in the world of work. It will open windows of opportunity and help me establish myself as an independent and self-sufficient person.

What is the best compliment you have ever received?
Just recently a lady approached me in a restaurant and confided in me that her daughter wanted to be just like me because she thought I was beautiful inside and out. I was touched and humbled in a way no other compliment could make me feel. It reminded me of my duty to be a role model for my peers, especially children and young people.

What is your secret wish?
To have my own half-hour cooking show on the Food Network! Nothing could be better than getting dolled up to be in front of a camera AND do one of my favorite hobbies.

What was your most embarrassing moment?
Once I took my dad's silver Tacoma truck to the drug store. When I left the store, I opened the truck door, got inside, and started to crank the truck. However, by the time I realized the key would not fit the ignition, a man tapped on the glass window. Then it hit me...this wasn't my dad's truck! I had gotten inside someone else's vehicle without realizing it, and my dad's truck was actually one parking space down. They were exactly identical! From now on I make sure that I park next to vehicles that are extremely different from the one I'm driving.

What is your biggest guilty pleasure?
Definitely some ice cream from Coldstone! I only let myself go on very special occasions because it is so indulgent. My favorites are cake batter ice cream with strawberries and graham cracker crumbs or coffee ice cream with Heath Bar chunks!

What is your favorite movie and why?
I happen to be a fan of suspense and mystery books and movies, so one of my favorite films is Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window with Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly. Essentially, it's a movie about spying on your neighbors and how it could get someone into some sticky situations, especially when you see your neighbor commit a crime...nothing quite more suspenseful than that! It's also an added plus that Grace Kelly wore some of the most beautiful clothes in the movie, too!

What is your favorite color and why?
I love to wear the color turquoise and shop for turquoise jewelry, so that easily makes it my favorite color.

What do you like to do for fun... relaxation... recreation?
Cooking is great relaxation therapy, especially baking. Sometimes I enjoy spending a whole Saturday at home in the kitchen making pies and cakes for my family. Other days I like to curl up with a good book or a good movie in my pajamas. However, for recreation I prefer to be outside in some way, especially running or horseback riding. Shopping might also fit into that category!

What would be your dream vacation or destination?
If I had a bottomless budget, first I would travel to Italy and visit Venice and Rome. Next I would go to Ireland and tour all of the historical castles there, and finally I might want to finish my vacation by just spending a full week of laying out on the beach in Destin.

What do you like best about your hometown?
Where I live in Brandon is close to the Ross Barnett Reservoir, and it's a place of many memories for me. Sometimes my family would picnic near the water at Lakeshore Park, and other times I went knee boarding and water tubing with my friends. It's a place where anyone can find something to do: you can be out on the water, fishing by the spillway, or enjoying the view from the shore. The sunsets are also very beautiful!

What do you like best about the state of Mississippi, besides our food & hospitality?
Whenever you cross the state line from Alabama into Mississippi, the street sign says, "Welcome to Mississippi! It's just like coming home." I love Mississippi because it's my home. I was raised here, chose to attend college here, and most of my family resides here as well. I don't know if I will always be in Mississippi forever, but every time I cross the state line, I read that same sign and say to myself, "Whew! I finally made it home."

What's in your CD player or on your iPod right now?
My iPod playlists currently have a consistent mix of Rebecca St. James, Michael Buble, Alison Krauss and Union Station, Chris Tomlin, and Carrie Underwood.

Where do you see yourself in ten years?
I see myself as having completed graduate school and able to find my place in the work force. My goal is to have enough experience to be my own boss and the owner of my own business. Also, if and when the time is right, I would like to start a family. We live in a world today where the sky is the limit, and the glass ceiling for women is cracking every day. I plan on being the kind of woman who can balance my life so that I can have my family and a career.

Who am I?
To know more about me is to know more about my family. Since I am an only child, I have a particularly close relationship with my parents. I'm also very close to my grandparents and other extended family as well. We're of the old-fashioned type, so some of our favorite family get-togethers include going to church homecomings, fishing, or just chatting around the dinner table. I also come from a long line of strong, hard-working women on both sides of my family, and we are also a family with lots of opinions! Whenever we get together, we definitely know how to discuss hot topics, and it's the reason I'm quite opinionated myself. Being family-oriented is quite a central part of who I am as an individual, and my family has always been there to support me and give me advice in whatever I do.

Because I enjoy being with my family, I also enjoy cooking. One of the reasons I enjoy this activity so much is because I believe it to be a lost art. Our society has become one of convenience, and that includes our eating habits. Most people prefer to eat out at restaurants or grab fast food; not many people enjoy cooking and sitting down to a meal every night with friends or family. I see food as a way to be creative and experiment with different flavors, and it's so much fun to try new foods and adjust recipes for different results. Cooking and passing down recipes are also great ways to keep family tradition alive (I'm currently trying out some staple recipes of my late grandmother). Of course, I'm not professing to be a great chef by any means! However, I do like what I learn from cooking, which are patience, practice, and the ability to follow instructions VERY carefully. Also, in the future I hope to take a cake decorating class and learn how to make other baked pastries.

Music and singing are also important to who I am. I feel that I express myself the best when I am singing or performing for others, and I usually gravitate toward songs that have a message or a story to tell. The best music is the kind you can listen to again and again and find new meanings every time you listen. That can even include music without words! It's why I enjoy listening to Broadway musicals because they are the best examples of using music to tell stories. It's why I hope to one day travel to New York City and see a Broadway musical, particularly Wicked (it has to be one of the best musicals to date).

Tell us about your occupational experience.
One of my favorite activities in college is being a MSU Roadrunner. It's more of what I would call an occupation that's on a volunteer basis. Roadrunners are responsible for helping with student recruitment, and we spend the year calling high school students, writing letters to them, and giving them tours around campus. I love this organization because first and foremost, I get to tell people how much I am passionate about MSU, but it is so much more than that. Being a member of this team has shown me what it means to sacrifice time to help someone else. I have enjoyed being a servant, and I have friends that I may not have made any other way. Being a Roadrunner teaches me commitment and dedication, but along with that I have reaped the benefits of helping students make the right choices about their futures.

Tell us about your platform.
Music has fascinated me since I was a child. Since both of my parents have been singing most of their lives, they passed their love and appreciation for music along to me. As I grew up, I realized that music was more to me than just a pastime. Learning and practicing music gave me the basic skills I needed to jumpstart my education. As a result I was motivated to get involved in music camps and after school programs that focused on music education’s benefits for children.

My platform is Music as a Positive Influence on Children's Education. It encourages and promotes music education for children, especially at the elementary age level. Research shows that children involved with music have better test scores, hand-eye coordination, and also more self confidence. They also have better math, reading, and language skills. The opportunity to improve our children's education is one that we should cultivate as much as possible because of this research. If music can help our children have better intelligence, better self esteem, and better grades, then certainly it can improve their chances of surviving in the world of work. With my platform, I hope to make this kind of difference in children's education.