So this was finally it—the month that I competed in the Ms.Wheelchair America 2011 pageant representing the state of Massachusetts. It was not only my first time competing but also my first airplane adventure in my electric wheelchair, so I was very interested in how that whole process works. My family and I arrived at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel on Monday evening just shortly before dinner was about to be served. This was the time that all the contestants and state coordinators introduced themselves and as orientation began we also got our red binders which were named our “bible” for the week, as they were very important in telling us where and when we had to be at different places throughout the week. This was also the time when the expectations for us were set for the week as far as how we should present ourselves as representatives of our home states and contestants. Little did I know, this was the beginning of the ride of a lifetime, as I met 27 of the most amazing people ever who were all so positive, radiant, and friendly. We all became very close very quickly.
The next day we got up bright and early (as we did every morning) to begin our Fun Day, which consisted of visiting the Gerald Ford Presidential Museum and afterwards breaking up into teams with the coordinators acting as our team leaders to go on a scavenger hunt of different things that we could find in the city…with a little help from the locals. Later that evening our team was given the “Most Determined” award for completing everything on the list, including all the bonus items! This announcement was made later that evening when we all went out to dinner at Mojo’s for a night of good food and fun entertainment. I even got to sing karaoke a little bit, along with a few of the state coordinators who were also called up to sing as well. It was fun to loosen up and be a little silly. The term “Fun Day” definitely suited the day!
Throughout the week we attended many different workshops when we were not in our judging sessions (interviews). The topics ranged from hearing inspirational stories of other men and women with wheels to learning some self-defense and learning more about the ADA and what things are acceptable and which are not when it comes to disability issues. These workshops were all very interesting, but I do wish that they could have incorporated more interactive material, as far as things to do with the other contestants in groups as another chance to get to know all the ladies that you are competing with throughout the week.
The interviews were Wednesday, Thursday and Friday ranging from five to fifteen minutes long and were in somewhat of a random order depending on the day. The judges were all nice people.
On Wednesday and Thursday night we had theme nights which were “At the Movies”, which meant dressing up as our favorite actor/actress or movie character and “Cruisin’ to Motown” which meant thinking of famous Motown singers and dressing like them. I (and about four other people-haha) thought alike and all dressed up in Dream Girls costumes. With mine I even got the make-up accessories and a toy microphone. There was also a Temptation Review band that came to sing for us that night which was really awesome. Due to my love and slight obsession over the Harry Potter series, I decided to dress up as Hermione Granger for movie night. They gave us a murder mystery to work together with people at our table on to try to solve where we had to go to the other tables and gather clues to help us solve it. It was both fun and challenging, but more importantly it got us working together to solve it.
Friday and Saturday night consisted of the main events of the week, the platform speeches and the crowning ceremony. My platform is “Discrimination and Stigma Associated with Disability” and I talked about some of the different references I have heard about people with disabilities and why it is wrong to assume things with us…or anyone else for that matter. This is one thing I am very passionate about is breaking down the misleading ideas and allowing people to see that we really are just like everyone else in every way and that “Yes We ALL Can!!”. Even though I was really nervous I did get the majority of my ideas and the main idea across, which was a really big accomplishment for me. Everyone was really supportive and understanding so I tried really hard not to be too hard on myself, even though it was difficult.
Finally on Saturday night was the crowning ceremony. To be really honest I was still feeling a bit down, but in the end with the support of my new amazing friends, as well as the old ones, I was able to pull myself together and adopt a positive attitude. By the time the crowning ceremony rolled around (no pun intended hehe), I decided to think of it this way: “If nothing else, I have made 27 wonderful friends in a week. Not many people can say this.” and I truly meant it-I was really grateful for the opportunity to meet everyone and share the experience. I am looking forward to staying in touch with them all and hopefully we will all meet again soon.
At the end 0f the night after dinner, I made my rounds to all the tables to say goodbye to everyone, as my family and I had to leave early in the morning before breakfast to make it to our return flight home. This was really bittersweet. I was happy it was all over and was ready to return to my normal life back home, but at the same time I was really sad to let go of all the awesome people I met throughout the week. It was time to return to The Bay State.
I will still be representing Massachusetts as the current titleholder for a few more months and as they say “Life Rolls On”. Of course I will continue to update my blog with all of my adventures as Ms.Wheelchair Massachusetts 2010. Again thank you so much to everyone who was a part of making Ms.Wheelchair America such a huge success and congratulations to Alexandra McArthur, Ms.Wheelchair North Carolina 2010 and the newly crowned Ms.Wheelchair America 2011! You will do our country proud for sure!!!
