Strike a Pose......Ms. Wheelchair America Pageant Day One

This is the first of my six entries that will describe my experiences at the Ms. Wheelchair America Leadership and Training Pageant week. As soon as we arrived at the curb of the Renaissance Hotel in Providence we were greeted by Kelly Conners. Then I saw Ms. Wheelchair California, Mary Zendejas. We had previously spoken online so it was exciting to finally meet her in person. A lot of us had previously met on Facebook in the anticipation of pageant week. Upon checking in I was immediately involved in a really cool photo shoot with Ms. Wheelchair America 2012, Josie Badger. It was exciting to finally meet her and we made instant friends. Ms. Wheelchair Rhode Island, Katrina Horsch also joined us in photos. It was really fun "striking a pose" and meeting such great people. There was a reception followed by dinner and the bonds that we all shared and formed right from the start where amazing. After dinner we had orientation and we were all given our state sashes to be worn during the week. During orientation we all realized how serious and important this week was going to be, and we were all encouraged to rise to the challenge. We met the mayor of Providence, Angel Taveras. He even gave all of us his cell phone number! He is very warmhearted and personable and gave us a great welcome to Providence. There was a picture presentation of beautiful Rhode Island for everyone to enjoy.

I knew I had to get to bed at a decent hour but I was so wound up and excited it was a little difficult. Thankfully I slept well...................... stay tuned for day two!

You can see more pictures and more updates on my year as Ms. Wheelchair Massachusetts 2012 at https://www.facebook.com/MsWheelchairMassachusetts2012