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Miss Leaf River Valley
What makes you special and unique? What is the best advice you have ever received? Name one thing you cannot live without. What is the most valuable lesson you ever learned? Who is your most valued role model and why? What was your most unexpected moment? What is your workout routine? What has been your biggest accomplishment to date? What is the best compliment you have ever recieved? What is your secret wish? What was your most embarrassing moment? What is your biggest guilty pleasure? What is your favorite movie and why? What do you like to do for fun... relaxation... recreation? What would be your dream vacation or destination? What do you like best about the state of Mississippi? Where do you see yourself in ten years? Who am I? Tell us about your platform. What are your Hobbies? Dancing, Boating, NASCAR, Casual window shopping, Freelance choreography, Jet skiing, Learning to cook, Reading magazines and motivational books, Attending Southern Miss sporting events Back to Top What makes you special and unique? My versatility has proven to be a special and unique quality. I am a confirmed NASCAR nut. From camping out at Talladega to watching my brother dirt track race, I love life in the fast lane... pedal to the metal!! The flip side might find me teaching young girls the beauty and solace that can be found in dance or spending time with senior adults affirming the value of lifelong learning. Back to Top What is the best advice you have ever received? The best advice I ever received came from my dad who always says "Be particular!" That is his way of saying that in life you should always think before you act and that you shouldn't settle for anything less than what your best can give you. Back to Top Name one thing you cannot live without. It is hard for me to imagine life without baby powder. My roommates and I discovered that if you don't have time to wash your hair, a healthy dose of powder works wonders. (By the way, if you use lavender scent, you won't smell like the proverbial Gerber Baby.) Just sprinkle, fluff, and you're out the door! I think this might work best on blondes! Back to Top What's the most valuable lesson you've ever learned? As is often the case, I learned my most valuable lesson between the pages of a favorite children's book, The Carrot Seed. A young boy planted a carrot seed and was continuously told by others that it would never grow. He chose to listen to the voice within and each day pulled the weeds around it and sprinkled the ground with water. He waited, and waited, and waited - then, one day it came up - just like he knew it would! So, keep the soil free of weeds and sprinkle it daily with good things, BELIEVE and be patient! The harvest will come! Back to Top Who is your most valued role model and why? Without question, my parents continue to be the greatest influence in my life! They are the poster children for work ethic and commitment! They built a successful business from scratch, and have modeled for my brother and me the value of faith and family - and the neat thing is they did it together! Back to Top What was your most unexpected moment? Competitive gymnastics camp was the site of my most unexpected moment. What started as my first effort to land a double front tuck - ended up with me knocked out with a broken nose and a fat lip. Self inflicted injuries are always the worst... Bummer! Back to Top What is your workout routine? My personal plan for a healthy lifestyle includes running, swimming, free weights and dancing. Much to the chagrin of my roommates, my indoor workouts start each day at 6 am Back to Top What has been your biggest accomplishment to date? There is no comparison for the feeling I got on December 15, when I became the first person in my family to graduate from college. First generation graduate, and a Golden Eagle Alum...now that's a great return on an investment! Back to Top What is the best compliment you have ever recieved? The mother of one of my dance students has empowered me for life. After a grueling practice session, she confided in me. "I hope my daughter grows up to be just like you." What a compliment and what a responsibility. Back to Top What is your secret wish? Secretly, I want to be a world class singer. In the shower I have the high notes of Leontyne Price and the powerful belt of Celine Dion. Of course, I am still in the shower waiting to be discovered. Faith Hill, you have nothing to worry about! Back to Top What was your most embarrassing moment? We've all heard of people with two left feet. Well, add me to that list. This Southern Miss cheerleader showed up to root for the Golden Eagles on national television with two left shoes. ESPN... I am definitely not ready for my close-up! Back to Top What is your biggest guilty pleasure? Bluebell's "Cookies and Cream" Ice Cream as a late night snack is my favorite indulgence. When chased with a glass of my mama's sweet tea, that's a good night's sleep. Talk about sweet dreams... Back to Top What is your favorite movie and why? Considering that my dog and the family boat are both named "Gump," I'll own up to Forrest Gump as my favorite movie. If I lose my dancing legs, I have memorized all the lines from this silver screen classic and the show will go on! Back to Top What do you like to do for fun... relaxation... recreation? I love to be outside - whether boating, jet skiing, watching my brother on the dirt track, or in the midst of the excitement at a college football game. Recreation, relaxation, and fun are certain to happen when sunshine is involved. Back to Top What would be your dream vacation or destination? My dream vacation has very little to do with a particular destination. As long as I am on a beach and with my family and friends - it's a dream come true! Back to Top What do you like best about the state of Mississippi? What I like most about Mississippi is the resiliency of her people. While Katrina left us at our worst, she brought out our best. From athletes Brett Farve and Steve McNair to news anchors Robin Roberts and Kathleen Koch to entertainment industry icons Oprah Winfrey and Sam Haskell, Mississippians proved to be their brother's keeper. Back to Top Where do you see yourself in ten years? In a decade, I'd like to be a professor of Speech Communication at a Mississippi University. Dance studio, two kids and a dog, a husband who understands my inherent need to shop, and Ph.D. in hand... just call me Dr. Nat. Back to Top Who am I? I am not a complex person at all - simple pleasures mean the most to me. I am a product of a hard-working family who enjoys spending time together. The fact that I have already earned a Bachelor of Arts in Speech Communication is of great value to me and a milestone in the journey toward lifelong learning. A perfect day for me would definitely include a good Southern meal with fried okra, macaroni and cheese, turkey and dressing, cornbread and a big glass of sweet tea! Of course that would need to be followed by some serious time sweating in the dance studio. The evening couldn't be wrapped up any better than by cheering for the Golden Eagles at a Southern Miss baseball or football game. I have been blessed with many days just like that!
Life is good. My hopes and dreams are to continue on the path of commitment and work ethic modeled for me by my parents so that one day my children will, too, recognize that the best things in life are not things.
Tell us about your platform. My brother was a reluctant reader. Though he certainly possessed the ability to read, he was not motivated to do so. He especially hated reading aloud. His hesitancy to read impacted both his school work and his career choice. Seeing that poor reading habits caused my brother to limit his goals in life, I decided to become an advocate for reading readiness and lifelong learning. Having been awarded a national literacy grant to do much of this work, I embarked on a reading tour of communities, schools, colleges and universities. The time commitment has been tremendous. To date, I have read to thousands of students and adults across Mississippi and have hit the road to publicly bring focus on the importance of reading and lifelong learning to students, schools, and adults in Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana and Tennessee. I designed fliers, media spots and handout materials to help parents, administrators and other stakeholders. It is said that there is nothing so contagious as enthusiasm. I personally benefit from the synergy created during my Read Across America projects. In cities and towns across The South, teachers, teenagers, librarians, politicians, actors, athletes, parents, grandparents and others developed Read Across America activities to bring reading excitement to children of all ages. Governors, mayors, city councilmen and elected officials recognized the role reading plays in their communities with proclamations and floor statements. Short-term, the excitement about reading has been tremendous. I even convinced a high school theatre program to dedicate the year's season to reading readiness. At my suggestion, their season included "Seussical," "The Musical: A Poetry Jam", and a "Reader's Theatre". Long-term there is a commitment in the communities that I have touched to embrace reading, especially in huge urban areas that typically do not have enough books and communities of color, which are often the most challenged with reading opportunities. In addition, these students tend to read below grade level.
Read Across America has bipartisan support. I am tremendously honored to follow in the footsteps of First Lady Laura Bush, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, and Senators Edward Kennedy and Hillary Clinton, to name just a few. Not only have I realized my skills as an organizer and media spokesperson but I have built a firm foundation on which I can continue my life's mission to promote reading and lifelong learning.
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