A Nice Study Break at the Girls' Modeling and Acting Camp

So today, I snuck away from bar class for a few hours to go pay a visit to some lovely ladies and boy was I glad that I did. There's nothing like impacting someone else's life to really help and put your life into perspective. So here I am running around stressing over this bar exam (Teri bore witness to it on Monday at Amanda's Miss Black USA sendoff which I'll discuss further down), thinking that not passing the first time is the end of the world. And then I met Holiday Johnson's beautifully talented little girls between the ages of 7-10 at their Modeling and Acting Camp and just that easily I was able to step back and see the bigger picture. See, to these girls, I am their hopes, dreams and aspirations. To them, I have already conquered the world (as one of the girls kindly told me). To them I am fearless, fun and fabulous and they don't have the first clue of what the bar exam is. To them, I am what they strive to be. And that is an awesome feeling... because often times we get so bogged down in our own life issues, stresses, work, frustrations, goals, etc, that we never really see the big picture. My big picture says "calm down" and "stop worrying because you made it to Miss USA, so you can certainly pass the bar exam with flying colors." Funny how the environment I was called to to teach life lessons turned around and taught me! Those are the kinds of experiences that I love!

Speaking of which, on Monday, I had the pleasure of hosting Amanda Lewis's Sendoff to Miss Black USA 2009. She is the current reigning Miss Black District of Columbia, and she is quite an awesome young lady with a powerful story. She left to kick some pageant booty this week at Miss Black USA 2009 in Las Vegas and I am positive that she will do well because although I met her for the first time competing with me at Miss District of Columbia USA in November, we have really fostered a friendship and I have seen her grow into an incredible woman. She said something at her sendoff that really struck a chord with me; she so eloquently said, "being a titleholder is way more than just having the title; it's about the power and opportunity that having a title gives you to be able to impact others lives. It's amazing how the simplest things mean the world to some of the people you meet." And she was 100% correct. At the end of her sendoff, I started thinking about how many appearances I've had over the past six months, and how excited people are just to talk with you, let alone get their picture taken or an autograph and that's a great feeling. When I see people that I've met before at a prior appearance, their hellos are genuine and so are their smiles. And that is a good feeling.