The Weekend that will Change my Life

Hello, everyone!

I'd like to start my very first blog, as Miss Teen of North Carolina, by introducing myself and the story of this past weekend!

My name is Olivia BreeAnn McSwain, and I am from Cleveland, North Carolina. I am seventeen years old, and continue to remain in the same initial shock that I received when I won my title.

The pageant weekend flew by much faster than I anticipated. As we were driving to Greensboro (and I was a nervous wreck), I vividly remember telling my mom, "Oh my gosh, I don't know if it's worth all of this stress...I hope this weekend just kinda hurries up."

Now don't get me wrong, I'm usually the most peppiest, bubbly, and optimistic person that you'd ever meet. However, I had endured a very rough two weeks, prior to the pageant. My grandad (and #1 hero) went through a stroke, at the age of eighty-five, and scared me like crazy. He's doing well now, but it did take some time to adjust and calm down.

Back to my story though...:] On the way to Greensboro, we just so happened to go to UNC-G. Which was the wrong college. This is my luck. haha So we asked the locals, and they directed us to Guilford College (which was also the WRONG college!) Finally, after an hour and a half of being in Greensboro, we located Greensboro college. I just knew there would be trouble, because we were late and I didn't get to check-in on time. I was scared to death that Sunny would just say, "Sorry, you can't be late" and then kick me out. Luckily, everything worked out.

From the briefing session, the girls went to play games and introduce ourselves. I was shocked at the eclectic array of girls that were brought to the competition. There was the sweetest football player, cheerleaders, dancers, and girls that had almost every limb broken (from trampolines, to attic ceilings, and way more original ways...I was impressed) I introduced myself as a person that was addicted to rhinestones and corny jokes. Sadly enough, it's completely true. Maybe I'll post some jokes later.. haha.

It was amazing to me how everyone bonded so easily. It was then that I decided, I was going to have an incredible time, no matter what the outcome would be.

The next day, I woke up to do interviews, and poise. However, we learned the dance first. Needless to say, I am NOT a professional dancer. I was trying to sing, and sway, rock and play...but I won't lie...I was a bit frightful of what the end result was going to be! It was so much fun learning though.

Interviews went well, but I remember that I was most scared of my hands. Yes, I know it sounds ridiculous. But I can explain! I wasn't scared of the questions the judges would ask. I was scared that because I was a littttttle nervous, my hands would get sweaty, and I DID NOT want to shake the judges' hands if mine were sweaty! haha It wasn't a problem though. Thankfully, the awesome staff calmed me down about that! :]

Poise and Personality went well, also. I was mainly scared that I would forget how to walk in a circle. But thankfully, I work well under pressure,so that went okay. Afterwards, I hung out with the staff and played encore! We had soo much fun!

The next morning, I felt horrible. I had gotten dehydrated and was extremely sick from it. My mom took me to get: gatorade, ginger ale, sprite, crackers, pepto-bismol, and much more. Can you tell that I was determined to stay for finals? haha

I remember (and it feels like the funniest thing, now) that during the dance, I was just a singing, swaying, rocking, and playing, and thinking, "Ohh my goodness, I'm gonna pass out!" And by the way, if the "singing, swaying, rocking, playing" doesn't make sense...it's because it's part of the chorus to the song. :]

However, after that, time passed like crazy! Everything else from there is a blur. My name was called 7th, for the top eight. Then I smiled, answered my question, and did the formal walk again with my candidate statement.

I made it to top four! So I answered another question. I felt okay, but not too confident in my answer. I remember praying as hard as I could, saying that I wanted to win soo badly, but if there was someone that deserved it more than I did, I was completely okay with it.

I had worked so hard and if someone did deserved it more than I did, then that was fine. I took so much from this competition that I was okay with whatever the outcome would be. However, the show went on, and they called 3rd runner up. It wasn't me! I was shocked. Then 2nd runner up was called. That wasn't me, either! I was shocked again! Somehow, I ended up taking the title!

Then I understood why people got a little teary when they won! It wasn't the money (that was actually the last thing on my mind!), but it was the title. I was chosen to represent 41 AMAZING girls, and the teens of North Carolina. I felt so blessed to have been among them, nonetheless be chosen as their representative.

I am still in utter shock at how the weekend played out. I have already talked to quite a few of the girls from the pageant, and we still enjoy talking, just like that weekend! I see us remaining very close!

I look forward to doing more community service through this reign. I am so excited, and am praying that I will do a good job in the next two years! If there are any other questions, feel free to ask!!

I am afraid that this is wayyy too long as it it, so I'll end it now (I promise that my other blogs will be shorter!) Have an amazing day!