UPDATE!

Hello everybody!

Well, there has been TONS going on in my life since my last post.  Between pageant preparations, appearances, photoshoots, traveling, nursing school, and nursing clinicals... I am one of the busiest people I know!  I love every minute of it.  There is nothing like working towards a good cause, and I am lucky enough to work towards two causes: Miss USA and my nursing license!  The following is a rundown of where I have been and what I have been doing.

Preparations:  SO much goes into preparing for a national pageant. WOW.  Between keeping your body in tip-top shape (fitness, hair, nails, skin) and completing paperwork, finding sponsors, getting and staying organized, scheduling travels and appearances, coaching... I will write a whole post on this later.  I can't even get into it here!  But I do love it.

Appearances: I was able to judge the Colchester Winter Festival Talent Show the other week with Miss Vermont Teen USA, Bridget Martin.  What a fun experience!  There were so many contestants, ranging from 6-70 years old.  It is amazing how talented some of these young children are!  Inspirational.  I also supported the Pink Zone basketball games at my college, University of Vermont.  The purpose of these PINK games is to raise money for breast cancer research and the Vermont Cancer Center.  There were pink jerseys worn by the players, pink t-shirts for competitors, and pink everything!  I worked the tables selling PINK t-shirts for a donation of $5... and we sold SO many.  I would like to think that my sparkly crown helped.  I was even asked to sign a few shirts.

Travels: I was lucky enough to escape a massive snowstorm (nothing unusual!) here in Vermont when I hopped on a plane to Arizona.  I had two beautiful days of photoshoots with Benizo, a talented and creative photographer.  Lots of diverse pictures came as a result.  It was great to warm up and play in the sun.  My favorite discovery of the trip was Horchatas, a Mexican rice milk with cinnamon. YUM!

Nursing School:  I am SO grateful to my incredible, flexible, and understanding professors who cheer me on as I navigate these months of pageant preparation.  I am all over the place traveling and focusing on pageant business.  The timing of my Miss Vermont USA win was perfect- I am a senior in nursing school right now and have class one day a week.  Beyond my one packed day of classes, I have to complete 128 hours of clinical internship and work on a community health project.  My clinical internship is at my favorite place in the world: Vermont Respite House.  This is an inpatient Hospice facility, where people go to spend the last days of their lives in comfort and peace with their families.  I have worked there as a Licensed Nursing Assistant for several years now, and it is wonderful to practice there as a student nurse now.  My community Health Project is the development of an educational program for Vermont National Guard members, which will be presented at a Yellow Ribbon Event weekend-long event in March.

What does the future hold?  I am going to Pittsburgh on Friday for a weekend of fun workshops and appearances with Randy Sanders (my director) and his team.  Next Thursday and Friday (2/24-25) I will be at a photoshoot with the famous Fadil Berisha in NYC.  When not traveling, I will be spending every day possible in class and my clinical internships.  I will also be securing my perfect evening gown in the beginning of March... but I cannot tell much about that!!!


Stay tuned!  It is a wild ride.

PS Miss USA is June 19th, from 9-11pm at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in LAS VEGAS!





~Lauren Carter